The roadmap is the last article in my series of discussions about the Pi Network whitepaper, and this one is easy to understand. The roadmap has three phases:

Currency distribution
Testnet
Mainnet

Currency Distribution

Included under this phase is the development of the so-called "trust graph." During this phase, the Pi server operates like a faucet.

What is a faucet?

What I understand about the faucet is that it is like a tap, or “gripo” in Filipino, and that's where the coins mined by pioneers come from.

The faucet idea is popular in the crypto world. There are many faucets in the crypto world. They give a few cents in exchange for playing games, watching ads, and so on.

There is another method of coin distribution that is popular in the crypto space: airdrop.

Imagine a helicopter or plane dropping coins. In cryptocurrency, the airdrop is done by a company as part of promotion. As a reward to those who participate in the promotion, they will be given tokens. The case is that not everyone will be given because if 200,000 join the promotion, usually only 5,000 participants receive the airdrop, and in my experience, the crypto company does not give any announcement or update what happened to the airdrop. During our early days in cryptocurrency hunting airdrops, as announced by coinmarketcap.com, my youngest son and I felt our efforts were wasted. We didn’t know that there was a different kind of airdrop.

When I joined Hive in August 2021, I saw a different kind of airdrop. This time, all users receive the token. However, the size of the airdrop depends on the size of your stakes in a particular token.

My negative experience in the airdrop outside of Hive caused me to look for a crypto project that distributes tokens before the ICO. And so, when an elder of the church mentioned to me that the Pi network was distributing tokens and that it would be launched in the Open Mainnet by December 2021, I immediately asked him to send me the link, and I downloaded the mobile app.

The Pi Network's approach to cryptocurrency distribution is different. Do you still remember the discussion about "attention market"?

As a review of the attention market, although it seems like a new concept, we do it every day, and this is what Pi describes “as a treasure chest that we have not yet opened.”

To gain our attention, large corporations are prepared to spend a lot of money on advertisements. In the case of Pi Network, through the Pi mobile app, we gave it our attention. As a reward for the attention we give to Pi, we receive coins every day. This is how Pi distributes cryptocurrencies. Pi intends to make money off of that attention market later.

Remember that during Phase 1, Pi has no value yet and cannot be exchanged for fiat currency. Technically, phase 1 was expected to be complete by December 2021, upon entry to the Testnet. I think the coin distribution that is happening during the testnet is an extension of Phase 1. Now that we are in the Open Mainnet, I wonder why we still receive tokens every day. Maybe I am missing something here. Is this still part of an over-extended airdrop?

Phase 2: Testnet

Before launching the mainnet, the node software will first be deployed on the testnet. At this point, the Pi core team will host nodes on the testnet. But they also encourage pioneers to start their nodes on the testnet. It is a requirement for the node to be tested first in the testnet before entering the mainnet.

In July 2021, there was no single Pi node in the Philippines. China was number one, followed by Vietnam. Today, I think many pioneers in the Philippines are launching their nodes. This is the fourth role of a pioneer, and node providers are given additional Pi incentives.

The fact that Pi was launched in the Open Mainnet on February 20 tells us that the node test during the Testnet period was successful.

Phase 3: Mainnet

Under phase 3, we must understand that only validated accounts that are owned by real people will be accepted by the Pi network. The use of bots, farming, and multiple accounts and gadgets is prohibited. One person, one account, and one gadget for coin mining. I am not sure how the Pi network identifies that an account is not a bot. They said they have a way to find out.

This statement in the white paper is important:

After this point, the faucet and Pi Network emulator of Phase 1 will be shut down.

I am uncertain if my interpretation is correct. What I understand is that the faucet that gives coins in Phase 1 will stop.

From here on, I will just post the exact statements from the white paper:

Future updates to the protocol will be contributed by the Pi developer community and Pi's core team and will be proposed by the committee.

So, if there is a change in the protocol, it will be done by the developers and the core team and will be proposed by the committee.

Their implementation and deployment will depend on nodes updating the mining software just like any other blockchains.

The implementation of the updated protocol is based on nodes, just like other blockchains.

No central authority will be controlling the currency, and it will be fully decentralized.

The whitepaper clearly states that the founders will have no control, and at this point, Pi Network’s governance will be a DAO. Many, of course, are skeptical about this. They don’t see it happening soon. Centralized control will stay. I don’t know for how long.

One Redditor is even more suspicious. He thinks that with the current situation that fiat currency is now involved, he expects that the information will be even more tightly controlled.

Another agreed that he doesn't believe that Pi Network is now fully decentralized because the core team still maintains control of the main nodes.

Lastly:

Balances of fake users or duplicate users will be discarded. This is the phase when Pi can be connected to exchanges and be exchanged for other currencies.

So duplicate accounts and fake accounts will not be honored. And finally, at the same time as the Open Mainnet goes live, this is the day that many are looking forward to so that they can convert their coins into fiat currency.

So that's what the white paper is all about. I expect that my team members will use the seven published articles about the white paper as the benchmark in assessing any messages or posts they see on social media.

That ends my discussion of the whitepaper. The next topics I have in mind are about fears and uncertainties out there about the Pi Network and lessons that the Hive blockchain network can learn from the whitepaper. After giving the positive appreciation of the Pi Network, I think it is now time to critically assess the viability and long-term prospect of this blockchain and crypto project.

If you are curious about Pi Network, you can download the app by following this link. You also need to have a Bitget account where you can transfer your Pi from your Pi wallet to a crypto exchange and exchange it for your currency.