Pi Community launched its mainnet with one of many greatest airdrops in crypto historical past. It was probably the most extremely anticipated crypto launches in historical past, however many have criticized the mission as being a pyramid scheme or perhaps a rip-off.
Nevertheless, few are conscious of the inner management turmoil that almost derailed the mission earlier than its launch in 2020.
Pi’s Inner Battle and Authorized Battle
In 2020, Vincent McPhilip, one in every of Pi Community’s co-founders, took authorized motion towards fellow founders Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan. He claimed they eliminated him from the corporate unfairly and mishandled monetary assets.
McPhilip alleged that Kokkalis and Fan, a married couple, introduced private conflicts into the office, making a poisonous atmosphere.
He described incidents involving verbal altercations and bodily confrontations that made it tough for him to guide successfully. McPhilip additional said that he spent extra time addressing their disputes than specializing in enterprise operations.
“Kokkalis and Fan had marital issues which manifested themselves not only in workplace shouting and screaming but acts of physical aggression towards each other witnessed by plaintiff,” the lawsuit said.
Tensions escalated in April 2020 when McPhilip stepped away briefly to deal with inner points. Nevertheless, Kokkalis and Fan considered his absence as abandonment and revoked his entry to firm property, together with servers and monetary accounts.
McPhilip additionally accused them of making an attempt to dilute his possession of the mission. He claimed they deliberate to challenge new shares at an undervalued value of $0.00005 per share, decreasing his stake.
This was significantly important on condition that Pi Community had beforehand secured substantial funding by Easy Settlement for Future Fairness (SAFE) investments, elevating capital at a $20 million valuation in 2019 and 2020.
Kokkalis and Fan countered these claims, arguing that McPhilip was dismissed because of violations of the corporate’s insurance policies.
The dispute was in the end settled in July 2023, however the decision particulars stay undisclosed. Since then, McPhilip has maintained his curiosity within the crypto sector by founding a brand new mission referred to as Knomad and persistently interacting with the sector on X.
Pi Community Rejects Rip-off Allegations
Regardless of its rising person base, Pi Community has confronted accusations of fraudulent actions.
On February 22, the workforce addressed these claims, clarifying that scammers unaffiliated with the mission had been falsely utilizing its title.
In response to the workforce, a police report in China warned of people impersonating Pi Community representatives. The workforce said that that they had no involvement within the scenario and had not been contacted by authorities relating to the matter.
“Pi Network has not been contacted by any police department in China regarding this incident. Pi strongly condemns any alleged activities by any bad actor,” the workforce said.
Moreover, Pi Community dismissed claims of hyperlinks to cryptocurrency alternate ByBit or its CEO, Ben Zhou. They said that no official communication had occurred and that Pi Community had by no means commented on ByBit or its management.
The workforce additionally distanced itself from a social media account that had made unfavourable remarks about Zhou, reaffirming that the mission had no affiliation with the statements.
“Neither Pi Network, nor anyone affiliated with Pi Network, has ever commented about ByBit or Mr. Zhou, whether on social media or otherwise. To that end, other than the comments mentioned in this post, Pi Network – despite the comments made about Pi – still has no comment and retains its position to make no comment regarding ByBit, Mr. Zhou, or their business,” the mission concluded.
Regardless of these challenges, Pi Community’s token has skilled a pointy enhance in worth. PI skilled an 86% surge inside 24 hours, bringing the token’s value to $1.50 as of press time.
This marks a robust restoration from its earlier drop under $1 following the mainnet launch. Pi’s absolutely diluted valuation now stands at $158 billion, with a market capitalization of round $10 billion.
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