Pi Network has given node operators until May 15 to complete a mandatory mainnet upgrade, a move aimed at keeping the blockchain network stable as participation grows. In a recent update, the Pi Core Team said the network is moving to Protocol 23 and warned that nodes failing to update before the deadline could lose connection to the mainnet.
The team further highlighted that the update might take more time than earlier updates and hence advised the operators to initiate the process well ahead of time. Node operators have been advised to back up their volumes and initiate the process well ahead of time to avoid last-minute disruptions.
Node system and consensus design
Nodes aid in verifying transactions and ensuring that the network database is kept up-to-date and accurate. While Bitcoin involves energy-consuming mining to validate transactions, Pi Network applies the Stellar Consensus Protocol for reaching consensus among the nodes regarding transaction data.
Accordingly, every node in this protocol is dependent on tiny quorums of trusted members, referred to as quorum slices, for verifying transactions. A node will only consider information when the trusted quorums have approved it, thus enabling consensus without massive computational resources.
Mobile users also contribute through what are called security circles. These are simple trust links between users that help build a broader network of connections. Over time, these links form a wider trust structure across the system.
The network also allows users to run nodes on regular personal computers. A desktop application lets them switch node operations on or off, lowering the technical barrier for participation and making it accessible to more users.
Upgrade timeline and network growth
The Protocol 23 upgrade comes after a series of recent changes to the network. Earlier updates, including Protocol 22, were completed without major disruptions or transaction failures. The development team is already working on the next phase, Protocol 26, which is expected in the coming months.
Pi Network continues to grow as well. Over 10 billion tokens have already been transferred into the mainnet. In addition, there are over 421,000 nodes actively connected to the network, as well as over one million CPUs performing computations.
On the level of applications, the activity of the mainnet has also grown. There are now live transactions being processed on the platform. Developers are working on testing other use cases of the blockchain, for example, decentralized AI services on top of its infrastructure.
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