Pi Coin vs Gold: A New Asset Choice for Pakistani People to Fight Inflation

1. Pi Coin project background and technical principles

1.1 Project Positioning and Core Features

Pi Network is a Layer1 public chain focused on mobile mining, aiming to reduce the threshold for user participation through low-energy algorithms (based on the Stellar consensus protocol). The total supply of its token PI is 100 billion, with a current circulation of about 10 billion (data after mainnet migration).

1.2 Mainnet Launch and Market Performance

• Launch Time: February 20, 2025, 16:00 (UTC+8)
• Initial price: opening price 1.50, plummeted by 59.910.60 within 24 hours
• Trading volume: The 24-hour trading volume reaches 4.83 billion USDT, with Gate.com accounting for the main liquidity

PI Coin Key Metrics (2025/02/21)

Source:Gate.com spot trading

2. The role of gold in Pakistan’s fight against inflation

2.1 Limitations of traditional safe-haven assets

• Liquidity cost: Pakistan gold trading requires access to the physical market, with fees of about 2-5%.
• Storage risk: Hoarding gold at home is susceptible to theft, with a 37% increase in the Karachi gold theft case in 2024

2.2 Gold Price Fluctuations (2025)

• International gold price: $2,100 per ounce (up 15% year-on-year)
• Local premium: Due to the devaluation of the Rupee, the price of gold in Pakistan is 12% higher than the global benchmark

3. Pi Coin vs Gold: a comparison of anti-inflation capabilities

3.1 Liquidity Comparison

• Pi Coin: Gate.com supports spot and perpetual contract trading (leverage up to 1-50x), with an average withdrawal processing time of 5 minutes.
• Gold: Physical delivery takes 1-3 working days, and cross-border trading is subject to foreign exchange controls

3.2 Volatility and Risk

• Pi Coin: The first-day trading range reached 179%, with a funding rate of ±2% (adjusted every 4 hours)
• Gold: Annualized volatility of about 18%, lower than the cryptocurrency market

资产比较（PI vs 黄金）

4. Pakistan’s Economic Background and Pi Coin Opportunities

4.1 Macroeconomic Challenges

• Inflation rate: CPI reached 22% in 2025, with food prices rising by over 30%.
• Foreign exchange reserves: only cover 1.2 months of imports, exacerbating capital controls

Source:Pakistan and the IMF

4.2 Trends in Public Asset Allocation

• Young users: Users under 30 account for 67% of Pi Network users in Pakistan
• Substitute demand: Cryptocurrency trading accounts are expected to increase by 240% by 2025, while gold purchases are down 18%.

5. Pi Coin Risk and Regulatory Challenges

The Controversy of 5.1 Pi Coin

• Regulatory warning: Bybit CEO calls it a “scam”, Indian police investigate illegal fundraising allegations
• Technical risk: Only 19% completion rate of mainnet migration, 45% of 19 million KYC users face lock-up restrictions.

Source:Bybit CEO tweet

5.2 The policy stability of gold

• Government Intervention: Pakistan’s central bank restricts gold imports, leading to an expansion of the black market premium.

6. Recent News and Market Trends about Pi Coin

• 2025/02/21: Pi Coin price falls below $0.65, community calls for “HODL until listing on Binance”
• 2025/02/20: Gate.com launches PI perpetual contract, with an open interest of 12 million USDT
• 2025/02/19: The Central Bank of Pakistan warns of the risks of cryptocurrencies, but does not explicitly ban PI transactions

Summary

In the context of economic turmoil in Pakistan, Pi Coin presents significant differences in anti-inflation properties compared to gold. Pi Coin attracts a young audience with high liquidity and low thresholds, but caution is needed due to its extreme volatility (24-hour range of 179%) and regulatory uncertainty (such as Bybit’s refusal to list). In contrast, gold, while high in stability, is limited by physical delivery and policy regulation.

From a technical perspective, Pi Coin, if it solves the KYC bottleneck (currently 19% completion rate) and expands its use cases (such as cross-border payments), may replicate XRP’s ‘community faith’ model. However, its $180 billion FDV (fully diluted valuation) far exceeds its actual ecological value, posing a risk of overvaluation. Investors should weigh short-term speculative opportunities against long-term fundamentals, with a recommended allocation of no more than 5% of total assets.

In the end, the choice of anti-inflation assets needs to be combined with individual risk preferences: gold is suitable for conservative investors, while Pi Coin is a high-risk high-return option. Trading on compliant platforms like Gate.com and closely monitoring on-chain data (such as changes in coin holding addresses) is the current optimal strategy.