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Frequently Asked Questions
Please read the FAQs and Community Wiki before using the Support Portal.
Pi is NOT free money. It is a long-term project whose success depends on the collective contributions of its members. Pi is dedicated to helping everyday people participate in a utilities-based ecosystem on blockchain fueled by a cryptocurrency without the need for traditional intermediaries. If you are looking for quick money, look elsewhere.
Pi Network is essentially a globally accessible online blockchain ecosystem that makes use of “Pi” – a new cryptocurrency for and by everyday people that you can “mine” on your phone for free with simplicity. Cryptocurrencies are a new form of digital money maintained and secured by a community, instead of by governments or banks. Today, you can mine Pi by making diverse contributions to the ecosystem, namely, helping to secure the blockchain, grow Pi’s trusted network, run a Node, and engage with the Pi app ecosystem. While most cryptocurrencies (like Bitcoin) have been very hard for everyday people to use and access, Pi puts the power of cryptocurrency into the palm of your hand.
Pi is a genuine effort by a team of Stanford graduates to give everyday people greater access to cryptocurrency. Pi’s core team is led by a team of early innovators in blockchain and social computing, with PhDs from Stanford University. No one can guarantee that the project will succeed. However, the Core Team is committed to working their hardest along with all Pioneers to make our shared dreams a reality, while maintaining the highest standards of integrity.
In fact, the network uses a native, decentralized KYC process to identify and verify that the members have only one account and to prevent bots or fake accounts from trying to game the system.
Allowing Pioneers to mine Pi cryptocurrency for free is a conscious network choice in service of ensuring accessibility to cryptocurrency to people regardless of their financial background. In fact, 65% of the entire Pi supply will be available for mining by Pioneers for free, which is a substantial share for the community in the blockchain space.
Pi Network does NOT use your phone’s resources – hardware, network, or anything else. The main Pi app and the Pi Browser app uses as much phone battery just as any other regular app. Please refer to the next answer to understand why Pi mining does not consume your phone resources.
Pi achieves this by using a different type of consensus algorithm in its blockchain, rather than the widely known Proof of Work (POW) algorithm that consumes a lot of energy. Pi’s consensus algorithm is adapted from the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP) and an algorithm called Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA), which do not require energy consumption to reach consensus in order to secure a ledger. This type of consensus algorithm requires the nodes to form quorums and exchange messages with each other based on a trust graph composed of individual quorum slices to come to a “consensus” on what the next block should be.
Mining is making contributions to the consensus algorithm to secure the ledger in blockchain for rewards. While POW mining requires nodes to “work” to solve mathematical puzzles to help the algorithm reach consensus and incidentally consume a lot of energy, Pi mining requires a distributed trust graph. The security circles of each individual mobile miners will aggregate into a global trust graph that will feed the consensus algorithm of the Pi blockchain. Therefore, each mobile miner is mining Pi by contributing to the intersectionality, security and feasibility of the consensus algorithm of the Pi blockchain in order to secure the Pi ledger.
While POW miners’ contribution to those blockchains is the energy, Pi mobile miners’ contribution to Pi Blockchain is their trust relationships and the active confirming of such relationships. The heavy lifting of running the consensus algorithm based on the trust graph that the mobile phones are creating is still falling into computer nodes. In fact, the Pi Testnet already has more than 10K such computer nodes that will be soon migrated to the Pi Mainnet, placing Pi into a good path into creating a very decentralized blockchain network.
Pi Network has a native noncustodial Pi Wallet app on the Pi Browser. Create your Wallet by downloading the Pi Browser app from the Google Play Store or iOS App Store and logging into your account on the Browser through your Pi mining app. Then you can access and follow the instructions on the “wallet.pi” page within the Pi Browser.
You are the sole owner of your Wallet’s private key in the form of a passphrase, which is generated locally on your phone and never comes to Pi’s servers. Your public key is also disclosed to you in the wallet creation process, and is supposed to be publicly visible like on any other blockchain. Make sure to store your Wallet passphrase (equivalent to your private key) in a secure location, and don’t share it with anyone else. Due to its noncustodial nature, the Wallet will not be recoverable from Pi Network’s servers. Once you complete KYC and your Pi Transferable Balance is migrated to the Mainnet blockchain, you may lose all of your Wallet’s Pi if you lose this passphrase.
The Pi balance visible on the Pi app (your mobile balance) may not be in the Pi Wallet yet. The mobile balance becomes transferable to your Mainnet Wallet after you pass KYC (identity verification) and complete the Mainnet Checklist in the Pi app. More and more of your mobile balance becomes transferable as your Security Circle members (and at a later stage your Referral Team members) pass KYC. KYC verification makes sure that the Pi you’ve mined along with these bonuses come from verified, real individuals.
In the Enclosed Network period of Mainnet, your Wallet can be used to send or receive Pi peer to peer or through apps within Pi Network’s app ecosystem. In the following Open Network period, external connectivity will be allowed, so the Pi Wallet will be open to holding any types of crypto assets and external wallets can access Pi blockchain.
Yes. Pi Network’s vision is to build an inclusive peer-to-peer ecosystem and online experience, fueled by the Pi cryptocurrency.
Therefore, Pi Network is making a personal communications service available to all Pioneers where permitted under applicable laws and regulations. Additionally, Pi Network is providing cryptocurrency transactions to all Pioneers where permitted. Please keep in mind that these laws and regulations change frequently due to changes in technology, policy and political events.
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