What is PiCoin and how to mine it using a mobile app?

PiCoin is named after the number π (3.14). It is a mineable cryptocurrency that has created much buzz on the internet. Instead of using powerful computer hardware and a lot of energy, PiCoin has developed an easy-to-use mobile app that people can use to join the Pi network and start mining Pi without sucking up their battery.

Like Bitcoin, PiCoin requires validation proof from miners. PiCoin has created a very easy-to-use cryptocurrency that will allow almost everyone to participate in the crypto space unlike other cryptocurrencies that are hard to mine and have fluctuating prices. Everyone can download the PiCoin app and start mining Pi as both a miner and validator with only their mobile phone.

Yes, as simple as that. PiCoin was officially launched in 2014 using the mathematical term π. Because π is an infinite number (3.14159265359…) PiCoin chose this name to refer to the infinity of its project.

Following its scientific and mathematical terminology, PiCoin was created by several Stanford graduates, which gives the project more credibility. There are 1,378,368.8048804 PiCoin in the ecosystem, and none of it has ever moved off the chain. It takes 314 seconds for each block to be created in the blockchain, a now familiar number.

Using SCP, the Pi network establishes groups of three to five miners and creates a network of validators divided into groups to validate transactions on a distributed ledger. People in different groups don’t interact and are grouped randomly by the system.

The critical thing about the Pi network and its SCP consensus is that Pi uses SCP to distribute PiCoin rewards more generously despite Bitcoin’s POW consensus. As you might know, Bitcoin’s POW consensus mechanism distributes rewards based on who puts more computing power into the network.

It creates a negative centralization system in which only miners and contributors will earn rewards. Others get less and less as more corporations establish massive mining pools with powerful computing technologies.

This system steals other people’s thunder, but SCP algorithms used by the Pi network let everyone within the mining ecosystem receive their cut. This is an excellent reason to start joining the generous PiCoin community.

The KYC process will ask for your personal information like name and email address to keep a record of its users for advertisements and regulations. There are nodes and ambassadors in the ecosystem. Nodes use computer software in addition to the mobile app while ambassadors advertise and invite others to the network.

• Pioneers: People who mine using the Pi network mobile app

• Nodes: Pioneers who run SCP algorithms on their computers along with the mobile app

• Ambassadors: People who introduce and invite new users and pioneers to the Pi network

• Contributors: Contributors bring those they know or trust, like family and friends. It creates a global circle of trust that helps the network.

Halving on a regular basis creates rewards for validating transactions and it cuts itself in half after reaching certain milestones.

The network reports that halving occurs after pioneers get 10 times bigger, in which the reward cuts in half. Reportedly, the mining reward was 1.6 Pi per hour when it first launched. Then another halving happened at 100K users, and the mining reward was reduced to 0.8 Pi per hour.

After surpassing one million, reward coins were cut down to 0.4 Pi, and after reaching 10 million users, the rewards halved to 0.2 Pi. Thanks to the network’s halving, the Pi reward for processing transactions will reach 0.05 an hour by hitting 1 billion users.

Because of the mathematical terminology and aptly timed release, received a lot of attention worldwide, especially among math teachers and math enthusiasts. Finally in June 2019, the network surpassed 100,000 users, and the first halving happened as 1.6 π per hour cut into 0.8 π.

The network launched phase two a year later and announced that the network had hit 3.5 million users. Many main developments happened during the second phase. the Pi network released its software development kit (SDK), Pi wallet and Pi browser.

The second phase was also the dawn of the nodes as the network introduced a testnet for Pi node on computer software with which users could collaborate. Finally, on Dec. 9th, 2020, the Pi network announced that the network had hit 10m+ pioneers and promised the launch of the mainnet the following year.

They kept that promise and the Pi network launched the mainnet on Dec. 29, 2021 along with the Know Your Customer (KYC) service, developer resources, and more apps. It is also good to mention that before the last phase, the Pi network held a hackathon for developers to contribute to the network with a reward of $100,000 and 100,000 π.

• Phase 1: Pi network launch on March 14, 2019. The network hit 100K users and one million pioneers before the second phase.

• Phase 2: The testnet launch for Pi nodes and the first release of the Pi platform on computer software. Ten million users and the launch of Pi wallet, Pi browser, development kit, and from June to September the hackathon #buildPi2gether. Twenty-five million engaged users by late September 2021.
• Phase 3: Launch the Pi mainnet and KYC service and more apps.

Unfortunately, there’s no sign of any crypto exchange to list PiCoin, and it is still in pre-release mode.

The project itself has announced that it is not running Initial Coin Offering (ICO), and any entity to sell and offer PiCoin is considered a scam and is fake. You can only earn Pi within the network as a role player, like being a pioneer or node.

There’s still no other way to get PiCoins, and there’s still no sign of it getting listed anywhere soon. So look out for scams.

After passing the KYC stage and signing up with your email, you can start joining the Pi network’s nodes.

The point is that you can choose what nodes to connect, and you can connect to multiple nodes as you wish. With the launch of the mainnet, now the Pi nodes go mainstream, and everyone can start running the SCP algorithm on their computer as a node.

It means that you can directly connect your Pi mobile app to your computer node and start collaborating with the Pi network. It seems flexible and secure as you can link to any node as you wish, even your circle of trust like your friend’s and family’s nodes.

This is optional. To put it in a nutshell, you can start mining Pi using its mobile app or by running SCP software on your PC and earning daily rewards for contributing to the network.

It is actually impossible to buy or sell PiCoin, and the supply has not yet moved off the Pi ecosystem. The Pi network creators announced that all PiCoins should stay in the ecosystem, and any ICO or IDO (Initial Decentralized Exchange Offering) or public sale is considered fake.

It’s not from the official Pi network. The only way to get PiCoin is through the Pi mobile app or connecting to SCP software as a node. You cannot sell the PiCoins you have earned through mining. You’re only able to mine Pi and wait for it to be listed on crypto exchanges.

All the PiCoin supply (1,378,368.8048804) is inside the Pi network and hasn’t moved off the ecosystem.

You can mine PiCoin for 0.4 π every hour and collect your bag of Pi inside the ecosystem and Pi app, but there’s still no price record for it, and nobody knows how much it’s worth. Some people estimate PiCoins to be above $10 each, though, but that’s not validated yet.

It has hit over 25 million users and contributors to this date. By comparing PiCoin to other cryptocurrencies, it’s relatively easy to mine and earn it. It‘s 100% free, and you can download the app and start getting Pi daily.

The easy accessibility makes PiCoin a popular cryptocurrency, and the number of users is increasing every day. Some believe that it may rock like Bitcoin in 2017 and 2020. Nobody knows what Picoin will be worth in the future. It depends on crypto exchanges officially listing it.

People who have joined the Pi network and started mining some Pi may benefit more than those who don’t have Pi in their Pi wallet. Being free makes it easier to believe that it’s not a scam. It may be a considerable success in the near future.