Pi Network collapse; With speculative altcoins like Pi Network, Pepe (PEPE), and Ethena (ETNA), falling by 30–70% in recent weeks, the bitcoin market is undergoing a broad-based correction. Driven by macroeconomic uncertainty, regulatory concerns, and declining liquidity, Bitcoin’s decline below $60,000 has sent a sector-wide sell-off underway. As investors go to stablecoins and blue-chip assets, altcoins with weak fundamentals or inflated valuations suffer the most from the decline.
Reflecting concern among retail traders, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index has descended into “extreme fear” levels. Derivative data shows that altcoins account for 65% of the over $800 million in long positions sold in 48 hours. Each beast has different weaknesses. Pi Network, Pepe, and Ethena symbolize the dangers involved with projects that depend more on excitement than utility.
Pi Network Struggles
With over 50 million users, Pi Network collapse, a mobile-mined cryptocurrency, is failing as irritation at its delayed open mainnet release grows. PI tokens are still locked in an “enclosed mainnet,” which limits transactions to approved wallets and forbids listings on big exchanges like Binance or Coinbase even after years of development. This lack of liquidity has driven holders to sell tokens on unregulated over-the-counter (OTC) marketplaces at severe discounts.
Some as low as 80% below Pi’s claimed $30 value. Recent social media leaks claiming team mismanagement and unmet roadmap commitments have sped up the selling. According to critics, Pi Network’s insular ecosystem erodes confidence among early users by resembling a speculative sociological experiment more than a practical blockchain. Volatility and mistrust will exist until the team allows open trading.
Pepe Coin Collapse
Rising 10,000% during the 2023 meme frenzy, Pepe, the meme coin with frog themes, has crumbled under the weight of its own speculation. Reflecting the fate of forebears like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, PEPE’s price has dropped 82% from its May 2024 peak. Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, meme currencies depend simply on viral trends and whale manipulation and lack inherent value.
According to on-chain data, Pepe’s top 10 wallets contain 40% of the supply, allowing coordinated “pump-and-dump” plans. Driven by influencer hype, retail investors are now caught in illiquid positions. As yield farmers leave, distributed exchange (DEX) liquidity pools decrease, and trading volumes have declined by 90%. Pepe’s crash underlines the risks of following meme-driven rallies without ecosystem improvements or alliances to maintain momentum.
Ethena’s Collapse Crisis
With a 65% price collapse brought on by governance conflicts and smart contract flaws, Ethena, a DeFi platform providing synthetic dollar yields, is reeling. Designed to arbitrage derivatives markets, the project’s main offering is a yield-bearing stablecoin. However, a software error discovered in June let attackers empty staking pools of $4.2 million, leading to a temporary closure.
Ethena’s core developers’ infighting over treasury management has come to light for public consumption. Aimed to lower hyperinflation, a controversial plan to cut staking incentives backfired and led to charges of centralisation. Ethena’s Total Value Locked (TVL) has dropped from 1.2 billion to 280 million in 30 days as holders are now running to safer stablecoins like USDC. The project is barely relevant since it cannot strike a mix between risk control and creativity.
Liquidity Crisis Impact
For several tokens, low liquidity is accentuating their downward spiral. Pi Network’s exclusion from tier-1 exchanges means even moderate sell orders cause 20–30% price swings. While listed on sites like Uniswap and KuCoin, Pepe and Ethena have shallow order books and significant slippage. Whale activity has heightened the carnage.
Blockchain data reveals Pi OTC whales throwing millions of tokens at 60–70% discounts to escape being caught in illiquid marketplaces. Pepe’s biggest holding traded PEPE into limited liquidity for $12 million, hence its price dropped by 40% in hours. For Ethena, the loss of market creators such as Wintermute renders the token open to manipulation. These ventures will struggle to revive until liquidity rises through institutional participation or exchange listings.
Conclusion
The Pi Network collapse, Pepe, and Ethena highlight the dangers of investing in assets motivated by hype, bad government, or legal uncertainty. Although more general market conditions have impacted each project’s shortcomings, delayed launches, centralisation, and technical failures have sealed their doom. This slump serves as a sobering reminder to investors of the need to prioritize basics: audited code, open teams, and unambiguous regulatory compliance. Projects with actual use will probably be the survivors, market cleansing speculative excess instead of transient viral trends. The best protection against the crypto market volatility in the meantime is still caution and a reasonable mistrust of “too good to be true.
