Important Pi Network News and PI Price Update: October 20

Last week was supposed to mark the completion of a key ecosystem development, but Pi Network’s Core Team has yet to verify that the milestone has been achieved.

PI’s weak performance persists, and a further slump could see it lose its spot among the 100 largest cryptocurrencies.

Upgrade or Not?

At the start of 2026, Pi Network started a protocol upgrade process, initially implementing version 19.6. It later deployed v20.2, which laid the foundation for smart contract capabilities and several other upgrades meant to enhance the ecosystem.

The latest completed update was protocol v27, while v28 was supposed to arrive on October 16. Pi Network has not yet announced the update, but some X users argue it’s already live. One of those is Kim H Wang, who said:

“After upgrading to version 28 protocol on October 17, Pi Network has the core blockchain infrastructure needed to support smart contract and public decentralized applications (dApps). Pi Network is ready for public dApp deployment.”

Pi Network Alerts claimed the same thing. According to the X account, protocol v28 has gone live on the Mainnet, highlighting the upgrade’s benefits to the ecosystem. Those include better handling of transaction-data delays, the ability to upgrade multiple smart contracts together, and safer changes to stored application data.

“This is more than a protocol number. It’s another step toward building infrastructure that can support a more advanced Pi ecosystem. With Protocol 27 completed and Protocol 28 now live, the real question is: what will developers build on top of these upgrades next,” it added.

The Upcoming Summit

Beyond the protocol upgrade, Kim H Wang also highlighted Pi Network’s first online Ecosystem Summit, scheduled for November 17-19, which will feature new platform announcements, developer demos, existing dApp showcases, and details on another hackathon. As CryptoPotato reported, the three-day online event will also involve discussions between devs and the Core Team.

Pi Network’s community calendar already includes two recurring annual events: Pi Day and Pi2Day, both inspired by dates connected to the mathematical constant 3.14. Both occasions brought significant advancements, such as Launchpad MVP, Mainnet-enabled Pi App studio functionality, second migrations, and ecosystem expansion through SoloHost, Pi Sign-in, and PiVerify.

PI Price Outlook

It seems like the bears remain in full control, with PI collapsing by an additional 12% over the past week to under $0.08. It is currently the 82nd-largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of around $880 million, but another decline could push the token out of the elite top 100 club.

X account BSCN said that PI has returned to its July lows, adding it has “hit rock bottom again.” It also noted that despite numerous announcements and updates, the price has failed to post a decisive comeback.

It remains to be seen whether the remaining months of the year can deliver such a rebound, but the waning investor interest in the token supports a more bearish scenario.