Pi Network Price Eyes $0.10 as Market Surges Ahead of Protocol 27

Pi Network's PiCoreTeam announced on X that Protocol 27 has been deployed to Pi Testnet, following the completion of the Protocol 26 upgrade on Pi Mainnet. 

The update introduces more flexible and secure smart contract authentication, giving accounts and applications new ways to authorize transactions. The PiCoreTeam said the target date for the Protocol 27 Mainnet upgrade is September 15, 2026.

The announcement coincided with a rise in Pi Network's token price. A TradingView chart for the PI/USDT pair showed the token trading at $0.09952, up 2.05% on the daily candle, with a session high of $0.09990 and a low of $0.09655.

The move brought PI within reach of the $0.10 mark, a level the token has struggled to hold since pulling back from higher prices earlier in the year.

What happened in the crypto market?

Pi Network confirmed that its Protocol 27 upgrade is now live on Testnet 1, a step that precedes any Mainnet rollout. According to the PiCoreTeam's post, the update focuses on smart contract authentication and is part of the network's continued work to expand its protocol capabilities and decentralized exchange features.

Separate source material accompanying this report cited a larger price gain, of roughly 9.35%, and referenced Bitcoin reaching a 14-week high near $79,500 during a broader market rally.

That figure was not visible on the supplied TradingView chart, which showed a 2.05% daily change for PI. Readers should treat the larger percentage and the Bitcoin figure as reported claims from the source material rather than confirmed chart data, since the two do not match.

Why is the crypto market moving?

The chart shows PI forming a symmetrical triangle pattern over recent months, with price compressing between a descending resistance line and a rising support line.

The latest candle closed above the triangle's upper boundary and above the 20-day simple moving average, which sat at 0.09713 according to the chart's Bollinger Band data.

Price also pushed above the midline of the Bollinger Bands, with the upper band at 0.09931 and the lower band at 0.08149 at the time the chart was captured. That positioning suggests short-term buying pressure, though it does not confirm a sustained trend change on its own.

The Protocol 27 announcement gave traders a specific, dated catalyst to react to, which can explain part of the day's move even though the upgrade itself remains on Testnet rather than Mainnet.

What do Pi Network's price levels show?

These figures come directly from the TradingView chart for PI/USDT on the OKX exchange, timestamped 22:16:20 on the 1-day chart view.

What could happen next in the crypto market?

The immediate technical question is whether PI can close a daily candle above $0.10. A close above that level would put the token above the upper edge of its recent trading range and could open a path toward the $0.11 to $0.12 area, based on the chart pattern.

Analysts cited in the source material point to $0.10, $0.13 and $0.16 as resistance levels worth watching, a view broadly consistent with the chart's price structure. 

None of these levels represent guaranteed outcomes, and PI could just as easily fail to hold the breakout and retreat toward the $0.089 to $0.09 support zone, or the lower boundary of the triangle near $0.08.

On the protocol side, the more concrete near-term event is the transition of Protocol 27 from Testnet to Mainnet. The PiCoreTeam has set a target date of September 15, 2026, though target dates for blockchain upgrades can shift depending on testing results.

What are traders watching now?

• Whether PI can close a daily candle above the $0.10 resistance level

• Testnet performance of Protocol 27 ahead of the September 15, 2026 Mainnet target

• Whether price holds above the 20-day moving average near $0.097

• Broader crypto market direction, which the source material describes as strong during this period

• Resistance levels at $0.10, $0.13 and $0.16 to be watches as per market analysis