The Pi Network price has bucked the downward trend prevalent in the broader cryptocurrency market amid a major mainnet upgrade that introduced smart contract functionality to the Pi ecosystem.
summation
- The Pi Network price defied the broader cryptocurrency market downturn and held steady near $0.177 after a brief decline, despite remaining nearly 40% below its post-listing high.
- The resilience follows the launch of mainnet version 20, which introduces smart contract functionality and raises expectations for ecosystem growth.
- Technical indicators remain bearish, with PI trading below key moving averages and facing downside risk if support near $0.176 fails.
According to data from crypto.news, the Pi Network (PI) price initially fell 5% to an intraday low of $0.171 on March 19, before recouping its losses and rising to $0.177 at press time. However, the token remains nearly 40% below its highly anticipated high after being listed on cryptocurrency exchange Kraken.
Pi Network’s resilience amid the sector-wide downturn can be attributed to the hype surrounding its upgrade to mainnet version 20. The latest upgrade gives the network the ability to support smart contracts. This means developers can now build decentralized applications and other services on the platform, which could ultimately drive development and adoption of the Pi ecosystem.
In an X post on March 19, Pi developers revealed that protocol version 21 would be released soon. They instructed node operators to keep their systems up to date and await further guidance.
Major announcements like these tend to increase investor demand for the token, putting upward pressure on the price.
The latest upgrade follows a series of protocol updates that began on February 20, when the team released version 19.6, the first upgrade of the year.
Despite the optimistic developments in the Pi ecosystem, the charts appear to suggest a bearish outlook for the Pi token in the upcoming sessions.
On the daily chart, Pi Network price has fallen below its 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day moving averages. This is a sign that the long-term trend has shifted decisively in favor of sellers. The only exception was the 20-day SMA at $0.176, which is the final support preventing it from going deeper into bearish territory.
As PI prices fall, the Supertrend indicator turns red. This means that the market bias has turned negative and volatility is now working against the bulls. Moreover, the MACD line is pointing downwards, which indicates that the bears have dominated the price action and the momentum is currently pointing towards further declines.
For now, $0.176 is the most important support level to watch. A drop below this could instill confidence in the bears and push the price down to the February 23 low of $0.156. However, a break above the psychological resistance of $0.200 could invalidate the bearish forecast and potentially signal a trend reversal.
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials presented on this page are for educational purposes only.