TL;DR
- Pi Network temporarily suspended payment requests after a wave of scams drained more than 4.4 million tokens.
- Scammers identify wallets with high balances, send direct payment requests, and if the user approves, the tokens are transferred instantly.
- The attack exposed a key weakness: a largely inexperienced user base operating on a transparent blockchain.
Pi Network decided to temporarily suspend the payment request function in its wallets after detecting a wave of scams that drained millions of PI tokens from user accounts. The measure aims to prevent further losses while the team evaluates security changes, since the issue does not lie in the protocol itself, but in how certain actors misuse a legitimate feature.
How the Scam Works
The mechanism is simple and effective. Pi’s blockchain displays addresses and balances publicly. Using that information, scammers identify wallets with large balances and send direct payment requests. If the user approves the request, the tokens are transferred immediately to the attacker. There is no possible reversal. The system operates exactly as designed. If a user authorizes a deceptive transaction, the funds are lost.
According to the latest data, cumulative losses exceed 4.4 million PI. A single address received a large share of the stolen funds, recording monthly inflows of between 700,000 and 800,000 tokens throughout much of 2025. In December, the volume jumped sharply.
The driving factor behind the scam is strictly human. Scammers rely on social engineering. They pose as friends, moderators, known contacts, or accounts that appear to be official. Many users interpret these requests as legitimate interactions and approve transfers without verifying the source. The Pi Network team emphasized that this is not a system vulnerability, but rather voluntary approvals induced by deception.
Pi Network halted payments to cut off the most direct attack channel at its source. There is no defined timeline for reactivation. In the meantime, users are advised to reject any unsolicited payment requests and to interact only through official channels. The community is also urged to stay alert for fake links, supposed airdrops, and portals that ask for credentials or private keys.
Pi Faces Market Pressure and an Inexperienced User Base
The PI token is going through a fragile phase. It trades near $0.20, with marginal upward moves and a market constrained by low liquidity and recent token unlocks. The additional supply continues to weigh on the price. This attack once again puts the protocol’s reputation under scrutiny and exposes a structural weakness: a large user base with limited on-chain experience operating in a fully transparent environment.
