The Australian Dollar (AUD) staged a notable recovery on Monday, buoyed by a combination of improved global market sentiment and positive signals from China.
China’s leadership has pledged to implement more proactive fiscal policies and looser monetary measures in 2023 to stimulate domestic consumption. This announcement, ahead of the crucial Central Economic Work Conference, has ignited speculation about further stimulus measures.
While weak Chinese Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, which contracted by 0.6% in November, might have dampened sentiment, the anticipation of additional stimulus has outweighed the negative impact. This development has provided a much-needed boost to the Australian Dollar, which is closely tied to China’s economic health.
RBA Rate Decision in Focus
In Australia, market participants are eagerly awaiting the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) monetary policy decision on Tuesday. While the central bank is expected to maintain the cash rate at its current level of 4.35%, investors will be closely watching for clues about the potential timing of an easing cycle.
Governor Philip Lowe’s commentary on this matter will likely be a key driver of the Australian Dollar’s near-term direction. If Lowe strikes a dovish tone, suggesting that rate cuts may be on the horizon, the AUD could face downward pressure. Conversely, a more hawkish stance could support the currency.
As the global economic landscape continues to evolve, the Australian Dollar’s performance will remain intertwined with developments in China and the RBA’s monetary policy decisions. Investors will be closely monitoring these factors to gauge the currency’s future trajectory.
“After rigorous reviews, CoinEx will list PI (Pi) on March 18, 2025,” the exchange stated in its announcement.
With this latest listing, Pi Coin is now available on 12 exchanges, as per Coinranking data. Despite this expansion, the possibility of a Binance listing remains uncertain.
“The failure to get listed on Binance, despite 86% of the community voting in favor, raises serious concerns about public trust in the project,” a pioneer wrote on X.
Pioneers Demand Transparency on Pi Network’s Funding Sources
An investigation by one of Pi Network’s pioneers uncovered that SocialChain Inc., the company behind Pi Network, has received investments from three firms: 137 Ventures, Ulu Ventures, and Designer Fund. However, the investigation revealed a key issue: two of these investors have not included Pi Network in their official investment portfolios.
Additionally, none of these firms have disclosed the amount of money they have invested in Pi Network despite being forthcoming with investment details for other companies.
“Why is Pi Core Team keeping this under wraps? Pioneers deserve transparency. If Pi Network aims for long-term sustainability, the team must be more open about its financial backing and key partnerships,” the post read.
Notably, a previous lawsuit by former co-founder Vince McPhillip against Pi Network offers additional insight into the project’s funding methods. The complaint outlined a series of claims, including wrongful termination, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, and breach of fiduciary duty.
Nonetheless, it detailed that the project had raised funds by selling financial instruments called SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity).
According to the lawsuit, Pi Network sold SAFE agreements in September 2019 with a maximum valuation of $20 million. During this fundraising round, the project raised $500,000. A few months later, in February 2020, Pi Network conducted another fundraising round at the same $20 million valuation, raising an additional $300,000.
Despite these fundraising efforts, the lack of clear financial disclosure continues to fuel concerns within the Pi Network community.
This drop has pushed the coin further down the cryptocurrency rankings, with PI falling from 12th to 21st place on CoinGecko. While the broader cryptocurrency market has also faced a downturn, PI’s losses have been more pronounced. At press time, PI was trading at $1.1, down 16.5% in the past 24 hours.
Despite this, Pi Network’s community engagement remains vibrant, particularly through PiFest 2025. The event has attracted 100,000 registered sellers worldwide, including 49,000 active participants on the Map of Pi.
Social media posts highlight strong participation from communities in Vietnam, Indonesia, and beyond, where users exchange goods and services using PI tokens.
According to data from PiScan, the Pi Network’s core team currently holds the majority of the total Pi Coin (PI) supply.
While such concentration may be necessary during the early stages of a network’s development, it also raises significant concerns about the project’s future decentralization.
Pi Coin Supply Concentration: Core Team’s Control Sparks Worries
The latest data reveals that the Pi Network’s core team controls approximately 62.8 billion Pi Coins across six wallets. Additionally, around 20 billion PI sits in roughly 10,000 unlisted wallets that belong to the team.
This brings the total supply held by these entities to about 82.8 billion PI. It represents a major chunk of the total maximum supply of 100 billion.
Further complicating the centralization issues, Pi Network is currently operating with only 43 nodes and three validators globally. In stark contrast, more established Layer 1 networks, such as Bitcoin (BTC), operate with over 21,000 nodes.Moreover, Ethereum (ETH) has over 6,600, and Solana (SOL) has around 4,800 nodes.
The limited number of nodes and validators means that control of the network is concentrated in the hands of a few entities. Therefore, this makes the network much more centralized than its more established counterparts.
“Analyzing Pi Network’s source code and on-chain data is currently challenging due to its incomplete openness,” PiScan posted on X.
Meanwhile, Pi Network has also raised doubts regarding privacy and third-party involvement. In the 2025 privacy policy update, Pi Network revealed that it uses ChatGPT for its Know Your Customer (KYC) process. This feature was not mentioned in the previous version of the policy.
“We use ChatGPT, as a trusted AI partner, to automate identity verification and enhance security measures. By using our KYC services, users consent to the use of ChatGPT, and other AI providers that may be later implemented, as part of our KYC process,” the document states.
The introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into the KYC process brings a new layer of complexity to how user data is shared and processed.
This dissatisfaction has resulted in a sharp decline in Pi Network’s popularity. According to Google Trends, the search interest for “Pi Network” has dropped significantly since the mainnet launch on February 20.
On launch day, the search interest was at 100, indicating a peak of public attention and excitement surrounding the event. However, this figure has plummeted to just 12 at the time of this report, reflecting a steep decline in interest.
Story’s IP has extended its bullish streak, recording another day of gains as its uptrend continues. In the last 24 hours alone, IP has surged 11%, making it the second-highest gainer during this period.
Over the past week, the altcoin has climbed 17%, bucking the broader market decline and solidifying its position as one of the strongest performers.
IP’s Short-Term Outlook Remains Bullish as Buying Pressure Builds
Readings from the IP 12-hour chart hint at a sustained price growth in the short term. For example, the coin’s Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) supports this bullish outlook.
After spending an extended period below the signal line (orange), IP’s MACD line (blue) flipped above it during Wednesday’s trading session, posting a green histogram bar.
This bullish crossover suggests a bullish shift in momentum, indicating increasing buying pressure. The appearance of a green histogram bar reinforces the strength of this trend, signaling that IP’s uptrend could continue. If sustained, this momentum may attract more traders, potentially driving the coin’s price even higher.
Additionally, IP’s Aroon Up Line, which tracks the strength of its trends, confirms that the current rally is still intact, indicating that the uptrend may not be slowing down anytime soon. At press time, this indicator is at 92.86%.
When an asset’s Aroon Up Line is close to 100%, it indicates a strong uptrend. The metric suggests that IP is consistently reaching new highs within the review period. This is true of the coin, which currently trades at $5.91, its highest since March 8.
IP Holds Strong Above Support—Can It Reclaim Its $7.95 All-Time High?
At its current price, IP trades strongly above the support floor formed at $5.54. If the bullish pressure in its spot markets remains, IP could continue its upward trend and attempt to revisit its all-time high of $7.95.
On the other hand, a resurgence in profit-taking among IP holders would invalidate this bullish projection. In that scenario, the coin could lose its recent gains, fall below the $5.54 support, and drop toward $4.05.
