Binance’s New Co-Governance: Will Pi Network Benefit?

Lately, in February, a controversy has arisen surrounding Pi Network’s Binance listing vote, where 86% of 294,955 voters said “Yes,” yet delays persist. With the announcements from Binance that this result was “for reference,” the community expects a new co-governance mechanism can shape the future of crypto listings.

Last month, from February 17th to February 27th, Binance held a community vote for Pi Network’s listing on Binance through the Binance Square Official account. This vote allowed verified users with a minimum balance of $5 in assets to participate via Binance Square. The vote asked a simple question: “Should Pi Network (PI) be launched on Binance?” and users could choose “Yes” or “No.” 

After 10 days, the results showed a strong support from the community when concluding with 86% of the 294,955 total votes favoring the listing, while 14% opposed it. More surprisingly, over 10 days, the “Yes” votes always stood at a stable place and never below 80% of total votes. 

However, Binance emphasized that these results are advisory only and not a final decision. The exchange stated that the outcome is “for reference” and that any listing would depend on their internal evaluation process, which includes assessing factors like security, liquidity, compliance, and the project’s overall roadmap. This exchange faced backlash and saw a surge in one-star reviews right after this announcement and the delay of listing post-vote from Binance, as Pi Network community felt cheated over not listing Pi coins.

Following that, Binance developers have still kept silence on their official answer of whether to list Pi coins or not, but Binance’s ratings on Google Play and App Store dropped significantly. 

Explanation for Listing Delay from Binance

Responding to the delay of listing from Binance, many experts and Web3 OG investors revealed that there would be some reasons behind it.

Even after six years and launching its mainnet, Pi Network still hasn’t revealed its smart contract or open-source code—key elements for any cryptocurrency. Many doubts remain about the project’s credibility since the founding team stays mostly out of the spotlight, and it’s unclear how many people are actually behind it. Besides, some experts argue that Pi’s blockchain isn’t truly decentralized yet. Unlike other crypto projects, Pi Network still has full control over its mainnet nodes, raising concerns about its commitment to decentralization. “All active mainnet nodes are exclusively managed by the Pi core team, contradicting the group’s claims of decentralization,” CoinTelegraph quoted a blockchain expert. “Although the project promises decentralization, its current structure raises doubts about the Pi Core Team’s commitment to this principle.”

Additionally, before listing a cryptocurrency, Binance considers key factors like security, liquidity, legal compliance, and market conditions. While Pi Network has a strong community, Binance may be cautious about its unusual market behavior. A notable concern is Pi Network’s price trend—it often rises when the global crypto market drops and falls when the market strengthens. For example, when the global market cap is down 1.14% to $2.84 trillion, yet Pi Network’s price is up 1.28% to $1.81. This inverse pattern raises questions: Could Binance see the phenomenon as a potential risk? If Binance lists Pi Network, many experts believe its price could surge depending on trading activity, liquidity, and market sentiment. Since strong trading activity is crucial for growth, some wonder if these constant fluctuations are contributing to the delay in Binance’s decision.

Binance’s New Community Co-Governance Mechanism for Listing 

On March 8th, Binance announced a new community co-governance mechanism, allowing the community to vote for listing or delisting a token/project. Recently, the community has shared valuable suggestions with Binance. After testing and evaluation, the exchange announced improvements to its listing and delisting process:

• If a project has a listing budget, Binance will make this information public and distribute tokens from that budget through various airdrop methods. Listing fees will be free. 
• Introducing a “list and delist” mechanism. By using this mechanism, users can vote to add promising projects into the “Alpha Observation Zone” or put weak, high-risk ones into the “Monitoring Tag”.
• Projects with exclusive Token Generation Events (TGE) on Binance Wallet will be placed in the Alpha Observation Zone.

Binance says these updates aim to give users more opportunities to discover high-potential projects. Meanwhile, the exchange ensures all listed tokens meet quality, innovation, and regulatory standards.

After Binance’s announcement for the new mechanism, one of the most excited communities is Pi Network supporters. They wondered whether Pi coins could be listed on Binance or not—as the previous case of Pi voting.