According to Bybit CEO, this PI token is a scam?

[bbc.reporter]

I certainly have noticed that this PI token is very much popular and famous with this forum's altcoin investors or the small minnows who want to make some money from this. However, there is a warning from the CEO of Bybit. It appears that there are allegations and warnings from the Chinese police that PI network is a scam that is targeting elderly people. Everyone who has a grandma and a grandpa should check their grandma and grandpa's cellphones if they have this alleged scam installed or this will be very much similar to another Axie occurrence hehehehe.



Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said Thursday that his exchange will not list the Pi Network's PI token, which was controversially released on Thursday, citing a Chinese police warning from 2023 that alleged the project was a scam targeting elderly people, leaking their personal information and leading to the loss of their pensions.

"There are multiple other reports out there questioning the project legitimacy," Zhou posted on X. "Yes, I still think you are a scam, and no, Bybit will not list scam."

Read in full https://www.coindesk.com/business/2025/02/21/bybit-ceo-labels-pi-network-a-scam-citing-official-police-warning

[Charles-Tim]

Which evidence Bybit has that will make Pi network a scam? Please, can you give me a link to it? Crypto scam are always obvious and way to know how the scam work and how people are affected are easily known

The coin has been listed on Bitget, Mexc, Gate.io, Digitfinex and some other exchanges. Binance write some good articles about the project. I introduced it to people that saw huge amount of money from it. I even do not like that I did not do it because I thought it would be one of the shit coins.

I am not advising anyone to buy it because I do not trust altcoins but why calling it scam?

[Tipstar]

PI surely is a scam. They are scamming people in different times in different level. They had announced exchange listing a few years back and even listed a fake PI token with fake trading at a high price. I looked for ways of withdrawing the coin at that time but they had none.
Now they have listed it again but has placed different hurdles to withdraw the coin. The coin being listed rose to a high of 1.8 and is now struggling around 1.5. It's a good time to sell it if you are able to withdraw it to the exchange.

[Bitstar_coin]

PI surely is a scam. They are scamming people in different times in different level. They had announced exchange listing a few years back and even listed a fake PI token with fake trading at a high price. I looked for ways of withdrawing the coin at that time but they had none.
Now they have listed it again but has placed different hurdles to withdraw the coin. The coin being listed rose to a high of 1.8 and is now struggling around 1.5. It's a good time to sell it if you are able to withdraw it to the exchange.

If you fall into a similar coin pretending to be PI that's your fault because people like you are the type that hardly read, they click on any link most times before realizing their mistake.
PI has always warn people to be careful and mindful of any pi trading because the mainnet is yet to be launched.

Those who had their PI unlock and migrated where able to trade p2p. If you hard the real PI app on your phone and was already unlocked and migrated,  there is no huddle to withdraw except it was another kind of PI you mine  

And while the bybit ceo is calling it a scam hope he can equally provide a backing evidence that actually proves the app is targeting the elderly which sounds ridiculous cuz 90% of people I know mining PI are mostly youths.

P.S - I didn't mine but after seeing the price I wish I did. Lol.

[peter0425]

The coin has been listed on Bitget, Mexc, Gate.io, Digitfinex and some other exchanges. Binance write some good articles about the project. I introduced it to people that saw huge amount of money from it. I even do not like that I did not do it because I thought it would be one of the shit coins.

It is quite confusing because if you trust these exchanges, you might trust pi since it is listed on these exchanges. As per binance, lots of people are spreading the news that binance has listed pi but that is not the truth at all. See here.

It could just be a personal thing for these exchanges. Because there is no clear consensus, if you want to invest in pi you just gotta do it at your own risk.

[avikz]

I still honestly believe that Pi network is planning for the biggest identity scam in the history of the world. The amount of KYC data they are storing, will have severe consequences if hacked ever. It may be possible that Pi will not do that intentionally but someone else can.

Earning money via mobile - sounds too good to be true! But they are super controversial and I wouldn't get my hands dirty for a couple of dollars. I am definitely not going to send my KYC documents to someone hiding behind a crypto coin project.

[coin-investor]

They finally list it on some of the top exchanges in the industry. I don't like PI because of what they've done to the community, doing KYC, monetizing their platform through their users, and a long wait to get it listed. The project is centralized.
But so far they are doing well, and we cannot argue with success; for now the price and the volume are good. Congratulations to all who are patient to keep their token; time will tell if this is a good project or not, and just a hype. I hope those who invest here know the warning signs if they are going to do a rugpull.

[moneystery]

I still honestly believe that Pi network is planning for the biggest identity scam in the history of the world. The amount of KYC data they are storing, will have severe consequences if hacked ever. It may be possible that Pi will not do that intentionally but someone else can.

Earning money via mobile - sounds too good to be true! But they are super controversial and I wouldn't get my hands dirty for a couple of dollars. I am definitely not going to send my KYC documents to someone hiding behind a crypto coin project.

i am also worried about how platforms like pi network store so much people's data in their database. because no one can guarantee that the data is really stored safely in their database, and especially it is sensitive data, such as identity cards, facial verification, phone numbers, etc., which if it falls into the hands of criminals it could be a problem.

because in my city there is also a similar project that is collecting people's data, its name is "worldcoin", it is even worse, they scan people's faces and take a lot of personal information from their users. and after that the users will get coins that are only worth a few dollars.

i don't know why people are so easy to give their identities to online projects with rewards of only a few dollars.

[Ishicryptic]

They finally list it on some of the top exchanges in the industry. I don't like PI because of what they've done to the community, doing KYC, monetizing their platform through their users, and a long wait to get it listed. The project is centralized.
But so far they are doing well, and we cannot argue with success; for now the price and the volume are good. Congratulations to all who are patient to keep their token; time will tell if this is a good project or not, and just a hype. I hope those who invest here know the warning signs if they are going to do a rugpull.

With altcoins you will never know the one that has potentials to reach ATH in the future and that that is why we need to invest with amounts that we can afford to loose. PI token is gathering so much momentum with it's hype and from my observation being listed in some top exchanges is a good sign for it after the long wait and I wouldn't call it a scam yet despite their KYC monetization as you rightly said but time will tell it will be called reputable. I can only endorse Bitcoin as a store of value, altcoins are very risky.

[Hispo]

I still honestly believe that Pi network is planning for the biggest identity scam in the history of the world. The amount of KYC data they are storing, will have severe consequences if hacked ever. It may be possible that Pi will not do that intentionally but someone else can.

Earning money via mobile - sounds too good to be true! But they are super controversial and I wouldn't get my hands dirty for a couple of dollars. I am definitely not going to send my KYC documents to someone hiding behind a crypto coin project.

In that sense this project is very similar to world-coin, the difference being worldcoin actually asking for biometric and sensible data (ones eyes irises) in exchange of a few bucks. To me, it is obviously not worth it.
In the worst case scenario they are actually already doing business with the personal information and KYC documents from those people who are unaware of what the true value of their identity is. Their name could be used by criminals to do a little bit of everything, from opening exchange accounts and try to launder money through to even ask for small loans with no collateral.

I am not sure this is a scam project, but I won't be stupid enough by trying to find out about it by giving my personal information to them in exchange of a handful of their token/coin. 

[Odohu]

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said Thursday that his exchange will not list the Pi Network's PI token, which was controversially released on Thursday, citing a Chinese police warning from 2023 that alleged the project was a scam targeting elderly people, leaking their personal information and leading to the loss of their pensions.

"There are multiple other reports out there questioning the project legitimacy," Zhou posted on X. "Yes, I still think you are a scam, and no, Bybit will not list scam."

Read in full https://www.coindesk.com/business/2025/02/21/bybit-ceo-labels-pi-network-a-scam-citing-official-police-warning

I don't know why this does not make sense to me because it is not only the elderly that mined Pi instead there are more young people that mined the coin than elderly people. If Pi network is a scam, it is definitely not to targeting elderly people to get their pension but maybe to harvest personal information of a lot of people via their KYC. This information can be resold through other channels or used for whatever purpose they chose.

[dunfida]

They finally list it on some of the top exchanges in the industry. I don't like PI because of what they've done to the community, doing KYC, monetizing their platform through their users, and a long wait to get it listed. The project is centralized.
But so far they are doing well, and we cannot argue with success; for now the price and the volume are good. Congratulations to all who are patient to keep their token; time will tell if this is a good project or not, and just a hype. I hope those who invest here know the warning signs if they are going to do a rugpull.

If it was a scam then exchanges wont really be listed it out and just like on what you have said that the current prices are already that doing good on which this do really shows that the community and the project itself does really shows that this one is indeed working. It cant really be just that easily forgotten into those negative words that been thrown back in the past about this project but it turned out that we are all wrong because if it was that a scam in the first place then it wont really be that listed on multiple exchangers which earlier that i have said. There's no point on throwing up some allegations now whether its a scam or not, so far i havent seen any complaints into those people who had bought or be able to mine this token for long time on which at last it did make able to get listed on multiple exchangers on which this one alone considered to be that fine.

Lets just move on for those who had missed out and be happy into those people who had been mining this thing for years. The perseverance and patience they do have did really pay off well. For those who have decided to hold their tokens then it will be that up to them but we should really be that careful and it will be always best that we do secure out our profits before the prices will really be that going into the floor. For the thing mentioned on op about elderly gets involved then even on other projects on which this one is indeed happening too. Engagement into something isnt a shocking thing anymore specially done through online.

[EarnOnVictor]

No wonder people were saying Pi was the first suspect when Bybit was hacked before it was confirmed to be Lazarus Group...lol, Ben Zhou is funny. This might be one of the reasons why Pi was delayed for years before it was eventually listed. What's happening in and around Pi looks legit to me and people have been showering praise on the project, not otherwise. Ben Zhou should keep his mouth shut, Bybit has listed scams and shitcoins, many of them, so why this now if not for a vested interested that didn't favour it?

[el kaka22]

They have that right to call it that, if they want to. Calling something scam isn't really against the law, so anyone can say anything could be a scam, without getting in trouble. This is why I would assume that if you do not want to be part of PI network then you can avoid it, and if there is anything that they are doing about the elder and the personal information type of stuff then we are going to end up with something much better result by getting rid of it.

However, this is a legal issue and not something to discuss, we can't get anywhere if we are going to just talk about it but if we can make this a lot better if we could end up with something that is based on legal courts and some judge and evidence etc etc.

[TastyChillySauce00]

Don't know if it's scam or not, so far the listing has been going normal but I guess ben zhou really skeptical at PI because how the project is marketed especially targeting older people to shill the project and giving them idea that PI will eventually reach "programmed" price of $341k or whatever it is.

to me it seems like shady giving people false hope like that while we all know how big the total supply is.

but at the end of the day, Ben Zhou owns bybit and he can do whatever he wants. even excluding PI from listing.

[Gozie51]

I'm not surprised if pi network gets this kind of nostalgic responses because they caused it. When you make yourself too much of a secret then everyone or most people see the reason for being secret as something to treat with a long spoon. I lost interest with pi because of the so much protocol and now the inhibitions are still there as they release some part and hodling some, such idea does not go down with me, for how long?

Bybit CEO, Ben Zhou is from China and he knows more than most people here. We just watch and see how pi goes.

[Yamifoud]

This is really how we should be much more careful when investing in altcoins, especially new launch projects. They are not just considered scams, but it is most likely they'll be going in that direction, as it has been proven many times.

Although it has not proven yet that PI is a big scam but the warning that is coming from ByBit means a lot. It is better to stay away rather than lose our money from an unreliable project. It is better to act with caution rather than regret.

[passwordnow]

I dislike PI ever since and probably have called it a scam too when they've been there for so long and letting their users KYC almost for nothing. But they did pulled it over and made their users worthwhile the wait. I'm happy for those that have taken their coins and sold it to the market for a free money. Not actually free but the time and effort that they have dedicated on it have shown its fruits and they all deserve that.

It appears that there are allegations and warnings from the Chinese police that PI network is a scam that is targeting elderly people.

This is real, I am seeing those sponsored posts that the elderly people are sharing PI posts and money making scheme on it. Well, they are not into it because they know crypto, they are into it because they think that it is the future. And guess what? they are more like a cult, this is not an insult but an observation and even think can outlaw Bitcoin.

[aioc]

Although it has not proven yet that PI is a big scam but the warning that is coming from ByBit means a lot. It is better to stay away rather than lose our money from an unreliable project. It is better to act with caution rather than regret.

This token is getting a huge pump right now; its $2.68, a 19.3% pump. People see this token as having potential; I prefer not to partake. I have seen useless and shiotcoin getting a huge pump when they launched only to get a dump later on.
Take the case of the Trump coin and many other similar tokens as an example.
If experts and reputable exchanges like Bybit issue a warning, we can consider this a serious warning.

[Cointxz]

Don't know if it's scam or not, so far the listing has been going normal but I guess ben zhou really skeptical at PI because how the project is marketed especially targeting older people to shill the project and giving them idea that PI will eventually reach "programmed" price of $341k or whatever it is.

to me it seems like shady giving people false hope like that while we all know how big the total supply is.

but at the end of the day, Ben Zhou owns bybit and he can do whatever he wants. even excluding PI from listing.

This project ask KYC before you can withdraw your tokens from their wallet that still subject for approval.

I’m not sure if everyone manage to withdraw their funds out of their wallet since most of the user that I know manage to sell via P2P rather than selling on exchange since the team KYC process on each wallet takes too long to approved.

The Bybit CEO claims might have a merit on it while those exchange that listed it especially Bitget usually doesn’t care whether the token is scam or not since it’s known for being a spammer.