Pi Network appears to be recovering from its recent losses as buyers attempt to push PI into a significant resistance area. The move higher comes as the ecosystem prepares a series of technical and developer-focused updates, including a planned upgrade to the Pi App Studio that could add more utility to the network by encouraging developers to create apps that generate actual use cases.

Pi Network was launched in 2019 by Stanford PhDs Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan and lets users earn PI through a smartphone app rather than energy-intensive mining hardware. The network ran as an enclosed mainnet for years before moving to its Open Network phase in February 2025, which connected it to external blockchains and services and coincided with PI becoming more widely tradable.

At the time of writing, PI is trading at $0.09099, with buyers attempting to build on the recovery that has been underway since July. Price action has risen from the July lows, but no breakout has been confirmed so far. PI finished at $0.095 on August 21 after testing levels around $0.096, leaving the token trading near its recent highs. As a result, market focus is shifting to the key resistance zone between $0.10 and $0.11, which now represents the main hurdle for the ongoing recovery. PI's trading remains concentrated on venues such as OKX, Bitget, and MEXC, and the token has yet to be listed on the largest global exchanges, a gap the Pi community has repeatedly petitioned Binance and others to close.

Pi Network App Update Could Boost PI Utility

One of the major upcoming events in the Pi ecosystem is a pricing update to the Pi App Studio, which is set to be implemented on August 24. The change was announced alongside the network's latest protocol milestone, which the Pi Core Team shared on X:

Following the successful completion of the Protocol 26 upgrade on Pi Mainnet, Pi Testnet is upgrading to Protocol 27! Protocol 27 introduces more flexible and secure smart contract authentication capabilities, enabling more advanced ways for accounts and applications to… pic.twitter.com/Qb5Id092Ln

— Pi Network (@PiCoreTeam), August 21, 2026

According to Pi Network, the greatly reduced cost of creating and editing applications at 0.25 PI will come to an end. In the future, pricing will be more reflective of the AI resources that each application uses, while applications that demonstrate real usage will be able to receive subsidies.

The resource-based model reflects how the studio itself works: Pi App Studio uses generative AI to help users build applications, so each project created or edited draws on computing resources that carry real costs. Tying what developers pay to what each app consumes mirrors that underlying cost structure.

The development is intended to incentivize developers to create apps that attract actual users, as opposed to projects that serve purely as experiments. Wider usage of these applications could help the utility of Pi going forward. The emphasis on demonstrable usage speaks to a long-running line of criticism around Pi Network: that a large registered user base has not yet translated into a broad catalog of applications people actually use. Subsidizing apps with proven traction is aimed squarely at that gap. Nevertheless, the update alone cannot prove that PI's price will increase in the future.

Pi Network Price Signals Potential Bullish Reversal

Crypto analyst Kim H. Wong noted the bounce in PI from $0.07070 to $0.09634 between July 14 and August 21, a move that produced a gain of approximately 36% for the token. It is his belief that better market conditions would allow PI to head toward $0.12.

As highlighted by Crypto With Gopal, the technical view of the situation is considerably more bullish. According to him, PI is currently forming a double bottom formation as buyers defend the $0.07–$0.08 range. The important resistance zone sits at $0.11, and breaking it could confirm the reversal formation and open up an opportunity for a rally toward $0.15.

Crypto With Gopal has also noted the importance of the $0.10 zone in the past, identifying it as another key resistance area. Retaking this zone, alongside the major moving averages, could further boost the bullish case, in his view.

Pi Network Continues Network Development

Price movement is not the only aspect drawing attention. Pi Network continues to develop its underlying network infrastructure. Protocol 26 has already been implemented on Mainnet, while Protocol 27 is currently undergoing testing on Testnet. The update will improve smart contract verification and is scheduled for September 15.

Pi Network has also made Node 0.6.2 available, a release that includes upgrades to SoloHost, connectivity, and Pi Desktop. In addition, there have been developments in testing the use of Pi Node in the field of distributed computing.

The near-term roadmap comes with fixed dates that make progress easy to track: the new App Studio pricing takes effect on August 24, and Protocol 27 is targeted for September 15. Between those milestones, the measure of success Pi itself has set is whether the usage-based subsidy model produces apps with genuine, sustained traction.

For PI, the combination of an improved technical structure, ongoing ecosystem updates, and upcoming application upgrades may increase the importance of the $0.10–$0.11 range. If PI manages to break out higher, it would support the case for an extended move toward $0.12 and possibly the $0.15 level.

This article contains market analysis and price predictions. These are not guarantees. Crypto markets are volatile. Always DYOR. Not financial advice.