Why Pi Network Coin is pumping as crypto prices remain muted

Pi Network Coin’s price is surging this month, even as the broader crypto market remains muted, with Bitcoin stuck at $67,000.

Pi Coin (PI) token jumped to a high of $0.20 on Wednesday, February 18, up by nearly 50% from its lowest level this month. This rally has brought its market capitalization to over $1.68 billion.

Pi Network is soaring as several important factors converge. First, the network will celebrate the first anniversary of its mainnet launch this Friday. As such, there is a likelihood the developers will make a major announcement to mark this occasion.

Second, there is a likelihood that Kraken, an American crypto exchange valued at over $20 billion, will list it later this year. Kraken added it to the chain section of the listing roadmap page.

A Kraken listing would be a big deal, as it would expose it to American investors, since it is now listed on exchanges like OKX, MEXC, and Gate, which have a negligible market share in the country. It would also raise the possibility of being listed by other companies, such as Binance and Coinbase.

Pi Coin’s price is soaring ahead of the first validator rewards distribution, which will occur in March this year. The risk, however, is that many of these validators may decide to sell their rewards.

Pi is also rising after developers began implementing a major network upgrade, as it transitions from Protocol 19 of the Stellar Network Consensus to Protocol 23. The first stage of the upgrade started on Sunday, and the process may continue in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, data compiled by PiScan shows that the pace of token unlocks will continue to fall over the next few months. 109 million tokens will be unlocked in the remainder of February, followed by 104 million in March, 86 million in April, and 78 million in May.

Pi Network Coin price technical analysis 

The 12-hour chart shows that the Pi Network Coin price has rebounded in the past few weeks, moving from a low of $0.1300 to the current $0.1870. It has flipped the Supertrend indicator from red to green for the first time since October last year.

The coin has also jumped above the 50-period and 100-period moving averages, and is slowly forming a bullish pennant pattern. It is also hovering at the 38.2% Fibonacci Retracement level.

Therefore, the coin may continue rising as bulls target the next key resistance level at $0.2055, its lowest level this month. This target aligns with the 50% Fibonacci Retracement level.