Pi Network crashes 10% as protocol upgrade fails to calm nervous traders

Pi Network PI is down by nearly 10% in the last 24 hours on Thursday, extending its losses as bears look to retest support near $0.0730.

The massive dip comes after more than three weeks of sustained selling pressure that erased over 40% of PI's value.

Meanwhile, news of an upcoming mainnet upgrade has helped improve market sentiment and reduce bearish momentum.

Stellar Protocol v25 upgrade fails to spark a rally

Pi Network announced on Wednesday that its mainnet will be upgraded to Stellar Protocol version 25 on July 22.

Because Pi Network is built on Stellar's blockchain infrastructure, the update represents another step toward adopting newer protocol features. 

The upgrade also moves the network closer to Stellar Protocol version 26, which is expected to introduce support for smart contract functionality on the Pi mainnet.

Although the announcement does not immediately change network capabilities, it has helped strengthen investor confidence by highlighting continued ecosystem development during a period of price weakness.

At the time of writing, PI was trading below $0.0750, losing nearly 10% of its value in the last 24 hours. 

The dip suggests selling pressure may be resuming after the token's recent consolidation period. 

Buyers will need to establish a decisive uptrend or risk losing strength in the near term. 

Pi Network technical analysis: PI still in oversold conditions

Technical indicators continue to reflect a market that remains under pressure but may be approaching a turning point.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) sits around 32 on the 4-hour chart, approaching the oversold territory. 

Such readings typically indicate that sellers may be becoming exhausted, increasing the possibility of a relief rally if buying interest returns.

However, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) remains below its signal line and in negative territory, showing that the broader bearish trend is still intact despite weakening downside momentum.

The 4-hour chart shows that PI continues to trade along the lower boundary of a falling channel, a technical pattern that often precedes bullish reversals when support holds.

If buyers successfully defend the current support level at $0.0730, they could target the major upside resistance at $0.0961. 

A breakout above that resistance could signal the beginning of a broader recovery. Higher resistance levels could come into focus if bullish momentum strengthens beyond this zone.

On the downside, traders should monitor the first major support level at $0.0730. Failure to defend this support could spark further decline towards the $0.0679 zone. 

A decisive daily close below $0.0679 would confirm a bearish breakdown from the falling channel and could open the door to further losses.

Pi Network remains in a fragile technical position.

The announcement of the Stellar Protocol v25 mainnet upgrade has failed to stabilize sentiment, while deeply oversold momentum indicators suggest selling pressure may be nearing exhaustion.

Even so, bulls need to reclaim $0.0961 to confirm a meaningful trend reversal. Until then, PI is likely to remain in a consolidation phase as traders await stronger bullish catalysts.