Crypto analyst Dr. Altcoin shared a personal reflection this week warning Pi Network Pioneers not to repeat the mistakes that cost early Bitcoin investors life-changing wealth. The analyst described dismissing Bitcoin twice, once in 2012 and again at $1,000 in 2017, before applying the lesson of proper research to Pi Network when he encountered it in 2020. Drawing a parallel to the Bitcoin Pizza story, Dr. Altcoin urged the community to treat the current phase of Pi’s development with the same seriousness that early Bitcoin adopters wish they had, with Consensus 2026 underway in Miami and Protocol 23 activating on May 11.

Day two of Consensus 2026 in Miami brings Pi Network’s co-founder Dr. Chengdiao Fan to the Convergence Stage today, speaking from 3:15 to 3:35 PM UTC on “Aligning Web3, AI, and Blockchain for Utility.” Her session will explore how Pi’s blockchain infrastructure, verified identity system, and globally engaged network of over 17 million KYC-verified users can support utility-driven products and new business models built for the AI era. The appearance comes three days before Protocol 23, Pi’s smart contract upgrade, activates on May 11.

Pi Network has officially launched the Pi Desktop Application Studio, enabling Pioneers to build functional applications on the network without advanced programming knowledge or significant development costs. The studio supports building directly through App Studio AI or by importing projects created with external tools including Claude Code, Cursor, Lovable, and Replit.

Pi Core Team is sponsoring the dedicated AI track at Consensus 2026 in Miami, with the opening session tackling one of the most pressing questions in the space: what is the framework for agentic payments? The panel brings together experts from Coinbase, Virtuals, KiteAI, and Cloudflare, moderated by Carole House of Penumbra Strategies.

The sponsorship puts Pi Network’s brand at the centre of the AI and blockchain conversation at one of the industry’s largest annual gatherings, arriving just days before Protocol 23 activates on May 11.

Ahead of the speech today, Pi is up 2.94% to $0.185 in the past 24 hours, slightly outperforming the broader market which gained 2.07% over the same period. The approaching Protocol 23 upgrade on May 11 is also one of the key catalysts the community is watching for a more decisive price move.

Pi Network co-founders Dr. Chengdiao Fan and Nicolas Kokkalis are both speaking at Consensus 2026 in Miami this week, marking one of the project’s highest-profile public appearances since mainnet development accelerated.

Fan takes the Convergence Stage Wednesday May 6 from 11:15 to 11:35 AM EDT with a session titled “Aligning Web3, AI, and Blockchain for Utility,” covering how Pi’s infrastructure, verified identity network, and globally engaged user base can support utility-driven products and AI-era business models.

Kokkalis follows Thursday May 7 from 10:15 to 10:45 AM EDT on a panel titled “How to Prove You’re Human in an AI World Without Doxing Yourself,” addressing how AI-generated bots are breaking the internet’s trust model and how blockchain-native KYC can restore it without compromising user privacy.

Both sessions arrive four days before Protocol 23, Pi’s smart contract upgrade, is scheduled to activate on May 11.