Pi Unblocks 417,000 Pioneers Its Own Checks Had Frozen

Pi Network cleared over 417,000 duplicate-account flags on September 17 after a further review found those Pioneers were not duplicates. A second queue of 497,000 Fast-Track wallets still cannot claim migrated PI, because those wallets do not hold enough of the token to pay the gas fee.

Both jams came from Pi’s own identity rules and wallet shortcut. The Core Team is now unpicking them in batches, while Protocol V27, the upgrade meant to give those users more to do on-chain, is still running on Testnet 2.

Duplicate Flags Hit 417,000 Accounts That Were Not Duplicates

The technical updates posted on September 17 call the duplicate problem a corner case. The headcount is not small. Over 417,000 Pioneers had been flagged for possible duplication, then confirmed as separate people after extra evaluation, the Core Team wrote.

Over 417,000 Pioneers are now able to move forward in the KYC process following further evaluation that confirmed they are not duplicates.

Pi Core Team, KYC and Mainnet Migration Updates, September 17, 2026

Clearing the flag does not finish KYC. Affected Pioneers still have to pass every other check before they can migrate. The same note says some groups get unblocked in batches because telling a real user from a bot, a second account, or a policy breach can need custom code, not one shared queue.

That is the irony sitting inside the one-person rule. The filter built to keep the network human is what froze hundreds of thousands of humans. They can move again only because the team later agreed the flag was wrong.

The Fast-Track Shortcut Left Wallets Too Empty to Pay Gas

The second queue is already on Mainnet, on paper. About 497,000 Pioneers received a Mainnet wallet through Fast-Track, a quicker identity path for new users and non-miners. Those wallets later became the destination for migrated balances. Because they were not created on the standard KYC-and-migration route, many held too little PI to cover the gas fee required to claim the coins waiting for them.

It is a closed loop. The migrated balance cannot be claimed without gas, and the Fast-Track wallet does not hold enough PI to pay that gas. The Core Team said an update would deploy within a week of the September 17 note to unblock those 497,000 Pioneers and to close the gap between the two KYC routes so the same stall does not hit the next wave.

On September 22 the official @PiCoreTeam account restated the same corner-case work and still described the wallet patch as forthcoming, not live.

Pi has released several technical updates to KYC and Mainnet migration processes that address specific KYC application corner cases, improve verification processes, and help eligible Pioneers who were previously unable to progress.

KYC and Mainnet migration involve many…

— Pi Network (@PiCoreTeam) September 22, 2026

Pioneers whose earlier claim failed for lack of gas were told to try again rather than open a new wallet or rerun unrelated KYC steps. Until the patch is actually on the network, those 497,000 balances stay recorded and out of reach.

Older Phones, Yoti Files and a Child ID That No Longer Counts

The same note bundled smaller stalls that had nothing to do with duplicates or gas. Early applicants who used Yoti, the outside identity vendor from the first KYC wave, got stuck because required liveness data was missing from those files. They can now send a new request to fill the gap. Passing Yoti years ago is not treated as enough on its own.

Indonesian Pioneers rejected after uploading a KIA, the child identity card that is no longer valid for KYC, can resubmit with another accepted ID. Liveness logic was also changed so older and lower-spec phones can capture the extra face angles the check wants. High load on the machine-learning video stack had been causing errors that left applications sitting still; the team says those processes now use system resources in a way that throws fewer of those faults.

FIVE EXTRA PATCHES IN THE SAME UPDATE

• Yoti resubmission: Early vendor files missing liveness data can be sent again through Pi’s own KYC app.
• Older devices: Face-angle capture was adjusted so weaker phones can finish the live check.
• Video processing: Machine-learning jobs were tuned after high demand caused errors and stalled applications.
• Palm-print trial: A one-month, gradual rollout lets some users who face repeat liveness checks add a palm scan that does not require showing a face.
• Indonesian KIA: Holders of the child ID that is no longer accepted can file a supported document instead.

Palm-print capture is not a new default for everyone. It is on a short trial for selected Pioneers who already have to repeat liveness, and the Core Team presents it as extra authenticity data that can help move a tentative KYC status without another face video.

Why Most Claimed Pioneers Still Sit Off Mainnet

Even if every file in this batch moves, the network’s conversion problem barely shifts. Early September tallies put migrated users near 16.6 million of a claimed 60 million engaged Pioneers, a 27.6% conversion. Over 417,000 newly unblocked KYC files are about 2.5% of that migrated count, and they still have other checks to finish. In May, Pi said more than 18.1 million people had passed its native KYC and over 16.7 million had migrated, so the identity pile is already much larger than this cleanup.

THE TWO QUEUES IN THE SEPTEMBER 17 NOTE

The two groups together cover more than 900,000 Pioneers, and they are not the same people in the same jam. One cohort was frozen before KYC could finish. The other already has a Mainnet wallet and cannot pull the balance into it. Treating the announcement as a single unlock of 900,000 spendable coins overstates what the note actually does.

On the chain itself, migrated mining rewards stand at 11,243,022,455.381 π, which the explorer lists as circulating supply, with 11.24 billion PI now circulating once the figure is rounded. About 6.15 billion of that is locked mining rewards and about 5.09 billion is unlocked. Effective total supply, migrated rewards divided by the 65% community share, is about 17.30 billion against a 100 billion maximum.

New claims from the 497,000 Fast-Track wallets would add to those migrated rewards only after gas can be paid. They would not, by themselves, pull the other 40-plus million engaged accounts through KYC.

Protocol V27 Clears 250 Transactions a Block on Testnet 2

The identity cleanup is running beside a protocol upgrade that still has not reached Mainnet. Protocol V27 moved from Testnet 1 to Testnet 2 and, in the test window Pi cited, processed about 250 transactions per block with no reported failure. That is the last validation stage before a production switch, not the switch itself.

V27 is the version described as adding more flexible smart-contract authentication and the plumbing often tied to later exchange tools, including liquidity-pool and order-book parts. No DEX launch date has been set. A mid-September Mainnet target was widely floated, then overtaken by Testnet 2 work. Node operators have been told they must run matching software or drop off the chain; ordinary holders are told to keep the passphrase offline and ignore anyone asking for it in the name of an upgrade.

That gap is what makes the KYC victory feel thin. Unblocking people so they can sit on a Mainnet that still lacks the contracts and markets those people keep asking for is a road that ends in an empty lot. The louder objection around the Core Team’s posts is not that duplicate flags should stay in place. It is that KYC patches keep arriving while a working place to spend PI does not.

Nine Cents, a Billion-Dollar Cap and a Patch Still Due

The token did not wait for the wallet patch. CoinMarketCap showed PI trading near $0.09, at $0.09177, up 2.91% over 24 hours, with a $1.03 billion market cap and $8.01 million in 24-hour volume. The day’s range ran from $0.08772 to $0.09224. That price is 96.92% below the Feb. 26, 2025 peak of $2.98, and it is 29.9% above the July 13, 2026 low of $0.07072.

PI MARKET SNAPSHOT

• Last price: $0.09177, with a $1.03 billion market cap on CoinMarketCap.
• On-chain float: 11.24 billion PI circulating, of which about 6.15 billion is locked.
• Drawdown: 96.92% below the $2.98 peak from Feb. 26, 2025.
• Cap vs maximum: 100 billion PI hard cap, about 17.30 billion effective total supply.

Open Network, which let PI connect outside the enclosed chain, went live on February 20, 2025. Nineteen months later the project is still issuing KYC batches and promising a gas fix for wallets it created on a shortcut path. The 417,000 people just unflagged still have to finish KYC. The 497,000 Fast-Track wallets still need the patch the Core Team timed to the week after September 17, a window that runs through September 24.

Until that wallet patch is live, those 497,000 balances stay on the chain and out of reach.

Disclaimer: This article is news reporting and analysis of Pi Network’s KYC and Mainnet migration notes, and it is for information only. It is not investment advice, trading advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold PI or any other token, and it is not a guide to completing KYC or claiming a wallet balance. Readers should consult a qualified financial adviser and rely on the Pi app and official Core Team pages before taking any action with PI. Prices, migration counts, protocol versions, and account statuses match the sources cited here and can change without notice.