Pi Network Hits Milestone with v23 Upgrade Ahead of January 22 Governance Vote

• With the v23 upgrade, PI developers hope to change security, speed, and improve the user experience.
• Community members say the January 22 governance vote will allow Pioneers to shape the future of the network.

Pi Network recently achieved a new feat by releasing the Protocol v23 upgrade. The network developers introduced the upgrade only a few weeks before an important mainnet vote, scheduled for January 22, 2026. Promise of Protocol v23 Upgrade A crypto enthusiast and Pi community member, RichAdams, on X, spotlighted the v23 upgrade launch in a recent post. According to RichAdams, Protocol v23 is deploying, enhancing security and speed to over 15.8 million mainnet users, popularly referred to as Pioneers. Many supporters perceive v23 as a big step for the project to develop a stronger and more resilient network.

Update on the Pi Network v23 Upgrade | Source: RichAdams on X

As featured in our recent coverage, Protocol v23 is built on Stellar Core v23.0.1. With v23, the network gets more stability, while developers get support. The upgrade also aims to improve how the heavy network activity is handled. This is important as Pi moves closer to full open mainnet access. According to developers, Protocol v23 makes Pi more ready for real-world use, such as payments, apps, and digital services. For everyday users, it means smoother transfers, fewer delays, and better overall performance. Protocol v23 will also change how identity checks work. Recently, Pi Network has embedded know-your-customer (KYC) authority directly on-chain. The result is that centralized systems are no longer allowed to handle user verification, but become part of the blockchain itself. This change helps reduce risks associated with central control. Additionally, it improves transparency and trust across the network. Some community members earlier raised concerns about how the team managed identity data.  Now, Protocol v23 directly answers those concerns. The goal is simply to ensure more decentralization, user control, and enhanced security. In our earlier report, we noted that Pi Network reported over 17.5 million users who fully passed KYC verification.  The project also reported about 15.8 million users migrated to the mainnet. Mainnet Vote to Go Live on January 22 Crucially, the mainnet-related vote is expected on January 22. Community members claim the vote will allow Pioneers to help shape the future of the network. This could become one of the largest community votes in crypto history, with over 15.8 million mainnet users. Meanwhile, the Pi Core Team has highlighted that @PiCoreTeam is the only official Pi Network account on X. The team expects the vote to guide how Pi moves forward in its open network phase. Alongside the mainnet vote launch, Pi Network is testing a new feature in its decentralized exchange (DEX). Rather than ranking tokens by market cap, Pi is now attempting liquidity-based rankings.  Accordingly, the platform will rank Pi tokens by real trading activity, not price hype. Supporters are optimistic that this will reduce manipulation and reward real usage.  Also worthy of note is that Pi Network recently upgraded KYC with artificial intelligence (AI). This helped to speed up mainnet migration for millions of pending users.