Pi Hackathon 2025 Faces Backlash Amid Price Crash and Delays

Key Points

• Pi Hackathon 2025 starts on August 21 with 160,000 PI in prizes
• Community upset over unresolved KYC and migration delays
• Concerns over falling PI price and lack of real-world utility
• Frustration grows as older hackathon winners still await rewards

Pi Network’s highly anticipated Pi Hackathon 2025 is launching on August 21, with big promises and a prize pool of 160,000 PI. But instead of excitement, the announcement has sparked growing discontent among its core community, known as Pioneers.

The hackathon, intended to encourage developers to build real-world applications using Pi Network, comes at a time when Pi Network is under heavy fire for its lack of progress, operational issues, and a dramatic price crash.

According to the official announcement, the Pi Hackathon 2025 is the first of its kind since the Open Network phase began. The event invites developers to submit apps built using the Pi SDK and PiOS, aimed at bringing utility to the token.

Here’s how the rewards are structured:

• 1st place: 75,000 PI

• 2nd place: 45,000 PI

• 3rd place: 15,000 PI

• 5 Honorable Mentions: 5,000 PI each

Teams must submit by October 15, with a midpoint check-in on September 19. No limit is set on team size, but all participants must pass the Pi KYC process to be eligible for rewards.

Reminder: Pi Hackathon 2025 begins this Thursday, August 21! Participants should get started now to register for the hackathon and begin forming or joining teams. https://t.co/QpZOOsY5yl

— Pi Network (@PiCoreTeam) August 18, 2025

Despite these incentives, many developers and community members are questioning the timing and intent behind the hackathon.

Many Pioneers don’t know how to use the Pi SDK & PiOS.

If a stable version of Pi App Studio is available, it will enable more Pioneers to easily develop apps and bring their ideas into the Pi ecosystem.

Core Team need to fast up the Execution process ! #PiNetwork $Pi…

— MAHIDHAR CRYPTO (@Mahidhar_Crypto) August 18, 2025

Unresolved Issues Cast a Shadow Over Developer Optimism

While the Pi Hackathon 2025 promises innovation, Pioneers argue that the Pi Core Team (PCT) is sidestepping bigger problems that threaten the ecosystem’s health.

Frustration Around KYC and Mainnet Migration

The Know Your Customer (KYC) process remains a major bottleneck. Many users report being stuck in limbo, approved, then reverted to tentative approval, without clear communication.

“We’ve been waiting over a year after KYC, and we’re still not migrated to mainnet. No answers. Even former validators like me are ignored,” one user shared.

It’s so frustrating you kept your early morning stuck in tentative approval
In fact many of us pass kyc fully and you reverse us back to tentative approval while we are waiting for migration for more than a year now
We can’t even communicate with the team
I was even a… pic.twitter.com/HQvPqatEM8

— ØlàñrewáJu (@1bigbromarlee) August 18, 2025

Since mainnet migration is essential for full participation in the ecosystem, this delay means that a huge number of users remain sidelined from meaningful engagement, including the hackathon itself.

Lack of Developer Tools

Another concern is the unready state of the Pi App Studio, the main development tool for Pi apps.

“We can’t build what we want because Pi App Studio is still in beta,” a developer pointed out.

Without a stable version of the SDK and PiOS, many potential participants feel locked out of the hackathon, making it difficult for the community to contribute effectively, even if they wanted to.

The CT is happily looking at their private pockets, while the community is left behind in this centralized project. $Pi is down -80%, left without any demand, heavily centralized and billions in circulation.

Why does the CT start a hackathon in such a mess, while winners from… pic.twitter.com/wHUaozpS1L

— pinetworkmembers (@pinetworkmember) August 18, 2025

PI Price Drop Fuels Distrust in the Project

The elephant in the room is the massive drop in PI’s price. While the crypto market has generally seen bullish movement in recent months, PI has done the opposite, dropping over 80% with low demand and no sign of recovery.

This echoes wider concerns about centralized crypto ecosystems, a topic that has been explored when discussing crypto’s biggest advantage, decentralization and transparency, something many feel Pi Network now lacks.

“Why start a hackathon when the token is collapsing and old winners still haven’t been paid?” one post read.

This statement reflects a common belief in the community that the PCT is out of touch, prioritizing PR-driven events over solving fundamental issues like KYC, mainnet migration, utility, and community engagement.

The situation is somewhat similar to recent developments in the industry, like the uncertainty around the Story Protocol co-founder’s exit, which raised alarms about leadership stability and project direction.

Adding fuel to the fire, Pi Coin’s current state stands in stark contrast to earlier promises of decentralization and global financial access. Instead, it is now perceived as heavily centralized and poorly managed, with massive supply sitting idle on exchanges and little to no market interest. This mirrors concerns seen in the meme coins’ exchange reserves, where supply overwhelms demand.

Silence From the Core Team

So far, the Pi Core Team has not responded to the growing wave of criticism. With old hackathon winners still waiting for their prizes and no transparency around the project’s development roadmap, trust is at an all-time low.

Interestingly, the hackathon comes at a time when Bitcoin volatility is again becoming a key topic, especially in the lead-up to Jackson Hole’s impact on crypto. While larger players like Ethereum whales are selling and preparing for macro shifts, Pi Network appears to be avoiding strategic market decisions altogether.

As Pi Hackathon 2025 opens for registration, the community is left wondering: will this event revive Pi Network, or simply widen the gap between its vision and reality?