The Core Team behind the popular yet controversial Pi Network project has been quite active since the start of the new year. They have already rolled out two updates for their products.

Latest Pi Network Updates

Shortly after the start of 2026, the Pi Network team released its first update for the year. This allowed developers to integrate PI app payments into their applications in less than ten minutes, thanks to a newly implemented developer library.

This simplification encourages users to focus on enhancing their products, aiming to bolster the ecosystem’s utility in the long run.

A second update, announced earlier this week, builds on the first, introducing an easy payment integration within the Pi App Studio. This enables creators to add payment features to their applications without needing any coding skills or technical background.

While these payment functions are currently limited to Test-Pi, the Pi team assures users that this beta version will pave the way for future Mainnet-enabled monetization. After deployment to the Mainnet, creators will have the capacity to add payment interactions in active sessions, such as unlocking features or buying in-app items.

In addition, Pi Network’s team has initiated a creator-focused event, allowing 1,000 qualified participants to earn 5 PI token credits, which are to be used exclusively within the platform for app creation and modification.

PI Price Continues to Struggle

Despite these updates, the native token recently experienced a downturn, descending below $0.18 this week after fluctuating between $0.20 and $0.22 for over a month. This decline coincided with increasing geopolitical tensions affecting the crypto market. Although there were positive indications regarding token withdrawals from exchanges, the asset has failed to recover meaningfully, currently trading at $0.183, reflecting a 1% daily drop and a significant 11% weekly decline. Analysts have suggested several strategies to improve PI’s performance as per their insights.