Openly launching pyramid schemes, the底线 of Web3 has been infinitely breached
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Openly launching pyramid schemes, the底线 of Web3 has been infinitely breached
Heaven-sent misfortune may still be avoided, but self-inflicted disaster admits no escape.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Yangz, Techub News
Earlier today, news of OKX listing PI sparked widespread controversy within the crypto community. For a project widely deemed a pyramid scheme, Techub News reached out to OKX's PR team, but they declined to comment. Meanwhile, Bitget followed OKX’s move and announced it would also list PI.
When it comes to PI (Pi Coin or π Coin), everyone in the industry knows it is a classic pyramid scheme specifically targeting middle-aged and elderly groups. The project claims to have been launched by a Stanford University PhD graduate and promotes itself under the guise of "public welfare," offering lectures to older demographics, asserting that users can mine for free simply by downloading an app and performing basic operations on their phones.
According to a report from Lanjing Finance last year, this so-called "mining" merely requires users to tap the lightning icon on the homepage of the "π Coin" app every 24 hours. After completing this action, the user's π Coin balance slowly increases—no technical skill or financial investment required. Combined with aggressive community propaganda promoting fantasies like "buying cars and houses with π Coin," many middle-aged and elderly individuals have fallen victim to this scam over the years.
Despite repeated warnings from police departments such as Wuxi City, who labeled these schemes illegal and noted that fraudsters use bait like "free gifts" to lure profit-seeking individuals into downloading software, then reward them with small amounts of π Coin and incentivize recruitment of new members to expand the victim pool and steal money, vulnerable middle-aged and elderly populations often fail to realize there is no actual withdrawal mechanism behind their ever-increasing π Coin balances. The claim that 100-some Pi Coins could exchange for a Rolls-Royce via its own marketplace is nothing but a fraudulent front.
However, OKX’s announcement today about launching spot trading for Pi Network's token PI on February 20 has completely shocked the entire industry. While the Pi community is undoubtedly celebrating, the broader crypto world has largely responded with silence—aside from young investors sarcastically joking about wanting to “make friends with uncles and aunties.” Many investors openly admit confusion, lamenting that “the crypto market has changed.”
On one hand, the crypto world looks down on the Pi community; on the other, the Pi community seems to disdain crypto circles just as much. @0xJaleel_eth commented, “Two worlds, neither respects the other.” He noted that the current Pi community doesn’t even care about OKX or being listed on exchanges, as they already have their own barter market. Additionally, @0xJaleel_eth shared insights into the current state of the Pi community: “PI circulation is extremely limited. KYC takes a long time. Most accounts that pass KYC are stuck waiting to ‘map to mainnet.’ In a group of 500 people, only one ordinary person with a relatively small amount of coins has successfully mapped to the mainnet—and only after mapping can coins be transferred out. The mapping process is highly opaque.”
The founder of Wu Talk Blockchain also advised against covering anything related to Pi on X, stating, “Industries linked to pyramid schemes are strictly cracked down upon. Everyone should have some legal awareness. Just because something hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean you can rely on luck—once it happens, it becomes a family tragedy.”
From Trump issuing TRUMP before officially taking office, to the recent case of the Central African Republic president allegedly following suit with CAR, the current crypto space has left many veteran investors stunned, even contemplating leaving the industry altogether. In earlier days, there was DeFi and NFTs. Now, apart from the weakening Bitcoin ecosystem and AI agent narratives, all one sees are memecoins that surge suddenly and may just as quickly collapse (according to Merkle Science, a cryptocurrency intelligence platform, investors lost over $500 million in memecoin scams in 2024 alone).
Many believe memecoins represent retail investors’ rebellion against traditional VC models. Through memecoins, ordinary investors are no longer passive bagholders but can unite, drive collective action, and create new market rules. However, if this concept is exploited by bad actors, the original decentralized spirit—intended as a tool for average investors to resist traditional financial monopolies—could ultimately become distorted.
Just when everyone shouts about attention-driven economies like memecoins and exchange listings become focal points of public discourse, it precisely reveals the current market’s lack of real-world applications and fresh capital inflows. As @tmel0211 pointed out, “TRUMP sucked up massive liquidity from the industry, and now PI coin has taken away whatever moral high ground we had left.” The once-proud dreams of decentralization, transparency, and breaking traditional financial structures may now be upheld by only a few.
Amidst the shockwaves, there are naturally some dissenting voices. Some X users argue that although the project’s nature is questionable, it undeniably brings users—just like early Bitcoin, which might not have succeeded without what some call “pyramid-like persistence.” The author believes that “bringing users” does not justify the legitimacy of such projects. Major exchanges, given their significant influence, should firmly resist supporting clear-cut pyramid schemes. Web3 development needs fundamental ethical boundaries. It’s true the industry has lost direction, but remember: “Disaster sent by heaven can still be avoided; disaster created by oneself cannot be escaped.”
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