Pi Network Protocol 28 goes live October 16, node operators have until October 13

Pi Network is moving its mainnet to Protocol 28. The Pi team has named October 16, 2026 for the switch, and node operators are expected to have updated their software by October 13. If your Pi simply sit in the Pi app, the answer to the question of what you have to do is: nothing. A protocol change does not touch balances, circulating supply or the mining in the app. Anyone running their own node, by contrast, has a real deadline in the calendar.

Search in English for these two dates and you will mostly find price forecasts. This article comes without a price target and answers the questions behind it instead: what is inside Protocol 28, where does it come from, where do the two Pi networks actually stand right now, and how can you tell for yourself on October 16 whether the switch has happened?

Pi Network Protocol 28: the two dates and who they apply to

A protocol, in this context, is the set of rules by which all computers in a network agree on a valid state of the ledger. A new protocol version changes those rules for every participant at the same moment, which is why such a switch needs a cut-off date and a run-up period in which operators swap out their software.

At Pi Network that produces two dates with two entirely different audiences. October 13 belongs to the node operators: by then the new release is meant to be running on their machines. October 16 belongs to the mainnet itself, the network in which the real Pi balances are booked. Named industry outlets attribute both dates to the Pi team, among them Analytics Insight, which reproduces the announcement verbatim.

A node, in this setting, is a computer that applies the network's rules itself and takes part in consensus instead of trusting someone else's server. It has nothing to do with the mining in the Pi app: the app collects balances, the node keeps the books. The vast majority of Pi holders belong to the first group, and for them October 13 is not a date that calls for action.

Mainnet on Protocol 27, testnet on 28: where things stood on October 7

Pi publishes the state of both its networks openly, and that state is unambiguous. The mainnet was running on Protocol 27 on Tuesday, with stellar-core release 27.1.0 as its software, and the ledger stood at a good 29.09 million entries. The testnet, by contrast, is already running Protocol 28, on release 28.0.1.

A ledger entry is a closed block of the ledger, comparable to a page in a cash book that is no longer altered. That the testnet is two steps ahead of the mainnet is the normal case at Pi, and at the same time the evidence that the upgrade runs in stages: the practice network first, then the network holding the real balances. If you want to look for yourself, the current state of the mainnet is available at any time in the public network status of Pi Network; the value behind current_protocol_version is the number that matters.

So much is settled: on October 7 the switch had not yet taken place on the mainnet. What is supposed to happen by October 16 is the jump of precisely that number from 27 to 28.

What is inside Protocol 28: CAP-83, CAP-85 and CAP-86

Protocol 28 is not a Pi invention. It comes from the technology Pi is built on. A CAP, spelled out Core Advancement Proposal, is a single numbered change proposal to that rulebook; a protocol version bundles several of them into one package. Protocol 28 contains three.

CAP-83 concerns consensus, the process by which validators agree on the next valid state. Until now they had to wait for complete transaction sets. In future they may run through parts of the procedure before everything has arrived, and discard late or invalid sets in a targeted way. That addresses delays in transmission, not fees.

CAP-85 brings atomic contract upgrades. Anyone running many instances of the same smart contract today has to replace each one individually. In future these contracts can point to an externally managed program file, and swapping that single reference lifts every contract involved to the new code in one indivisible step.

CAP-86 makes it easier to migrate contract data. New functions cope with missing or additional fields instead of aborting the operation. For developers that means the data structure of an application can grow with it without breaking what already exists.

One point matters for context: adopting these features is voluntary. Existing applications keep running as before; they gain the new options only once their developers build them in.

Stellar-core as the foundation: why the Pi mainnet trails by two generations

Pi Network runs on stellar-core, the software behind Stellar. That explains both the numbering and the content of Protocol 28, because Pi adopts the development of its model with a time lag.

How large that lag is can be quantified. The public Stellar network now runs on Protocol 29, in software release 29.0.0. The Pi mainnet stands at 27. Pi is therefore two protocol generations behind the original, and even the jump to 28 announced for October 16 closes only half of that gap.

Stellar itself activated Protocol 28 on September 16. What reached XLM holders back then, and which points really mattered there, we took apart in our article on Stellar after the Protocol 28 upgrade. For Pi holders that is the best available preview: the same three changes have already been live there for almost a month.

Node operators and October 13: Docker image, consensus and loss of connection

For node operators the new release has been available as a Docker image since October 6, that is, as a ready-packaged software bundle that starts without an installation of your own. That leaves the week up to October 13 as the window for switching over.

What happens if someone lets the deadline pass? A node with outdated software no longer speaks the same language as the rest of the network after the switch. It loses the connection and no longer takes part in consensus until it is updated. Balances are not lost in the process, because they sit in the network's ledger and not on the individual machine. What is lost is the role that machine played in the network.

This pattern is not confined to Pi. In every network that versions its rules, an outdated release eventually falls out of maintenance, and operators have to follow suit. Anyone running a Pi node knows the sequence from the two previous switches anyway.

Pi in the app: mining, circulating supply and tokenomics stay the same

For the large majority of Pi holders the most important news is a non-news. The upgrade changes neither the circulating supply nor the tokenomics nor the mining in the app. No new tokens are issued, nothing is swapped, nothing has to be migrated. Whoever holds a certain amount of Pi on October 15 holds the same amount on October 17.

One practical restriction remains all the same. Around protocol changes, trading venues like to suspend deposits and withdrawals of a coin temporarily, so that no transfer is left hanging mid-switch. That is routine and not an alarm signal, but it can come at an awkward moment if a withdrawal happens to be planned for exactly then. Such pauses typically last a few hours; they are announced by each venue separately and often at short notice. If you want to move something in the week around October 16, you are better off doing it before or after.

The run before it: Protocol 26 on August 11, Protocol 27 on September 15

The procedure is well rehearsed at Pi, and that can be traced through two dates from this year. For Protocol 26 the deadline for node operators expired on August 11. Our analysis of August 14 on Protocol 26 and the nodes affected showed at the time that considerably fewer machines were involved than the figure of 421,000 doing the rounds suggested.

Protocol 27 followed on September 15. When we checked on September 2, the mainnet was still on 26 and the first testnet already on 27; that situation and every protocol jump of the preceding months are set out in our article on the switch to Protocol 27. The fact that the mainnet is indeed running 27 today shows that this date was met.

Lay the run side by side and the rhythm becomes clear. A good month lies between the switches, and every time the mainnet change was preceded by a testnet that already carried the new release. That is exactly the state Pi is in now, too.

An announced date, not a guaranteed one: how you will recognise the switch on October 16

For all the routine, one piece of context belongs here. Both dates come from the Pi team's announcement as named industry outlets reproduce it. What is documented is therefore the announcement. The execution documents itself only on the day it takes place.

That is no reason to wait for a press release, though. The protocol level of the mainnet is openly available online, and it is the only figure that really decides the switch. If the value there jumps from 27 to 28, Protocol 28 is live on the mainnet. If it still reads 27 on October 17, the date has slipped, regardless of what is reported elsewhere. For a holder such a delay changes nothing; for a node operator it merely moves the point at which the new release has to be running.

Where Pi can be traded: exchanges, MiCA authorisation and custody in the Pi app

Pi is traded on several international venues. For you one question counts for more than the one about fees: whether the provider is authorised under the European crypto regulation MiCA. An authorisation means fixed obligations on custody, complaint channels and own funds, and it makes a difference if something goes wrong later. Which providers hold that authorisation is set out in our comparison of regulated crypto exchanges.

The second point concerns custody. Pi in the Pi app hangs on a passphrase of 24 words that only you hold. If it is lost, access is gone, and neither the Pi team nor a protocol upgrade can change that. A protocol change is a good moment to check those words once for completeness and safe storage. Which forms of storage are suitable and where the differences between the solutions lie is shown in our comparison of software wallets.

Tax on Pi: Section 23 EStG, the one-year period and the protocol change

In Germany, gains from the sale of crypto assets fall under private disposal transactions pursuant to Section 23 of the Income Tax Act (EStG). Anyone who holds for more than a year and then sells pays no income tax on the gain; within the year the gain is taxable, provided the total of all private disposal transactions in a year exceeds the applicable exemption threshold.

For the upgrade itself the answer is plain. The switch to Protocol 28 creates no new tokens, and nothing changes hands. There is therefore no event you would have to treat as a disposal, and the one-year period on your existing Pi continues to run unchanged. That is what distinguishes a protocol upgrade from a fork, where additional coins are credited to the portfolio.

There is movement on the holding period somewhere else at the moment: the Bundestag petitions committee is taking it up in a public session on October 12. What is on the table there we have written up in our article on the hearing on the crypto holding period. For Pi holders with older positions it is worth a look, because a change to the rule would hit all coins alike.

What Protocol 28 opens up for a Pi DEX and smart contracts on the mainnet

The Pi team presents Protocol 28 as the technical precondition for the next stage of expansion: smart contracts, a decentralised exchange within its own network, and financial applications built on top. That is plausible, because two of the three changes target precisely the developers who want to run and evolve contracts.

Between a precondition and a product, however, lies work. Protocol 28 does not ship a finished exchange; it clears obstacles out of the way. When usable applications come of it depends on the developers in the Pi ecosystem and not on the cut-off date in October. Anyone attaching expectations to October 16 should keep that distinction in mind: the network gains new capabilities, the benefit arrives later.

Pi Network Protocol 28: The key points for your decision

1. First establish which group you belong to. Without a node of your own, October 13 is not a date for action. With your own node, you switch to the new release by then. Either way, a protocol change is the right moment to check the 24 words of your Pi app; which storage is up to the job is shown by the hardware wallet comparison.
2. Plan transfers around October 16. Trading venues frequently pause deposits and withdrawals during switches like this. If you are thinking about the venue anyway, a look at the comparison of crypto exchanges helps before you move anything.
3. Document your holdings before anything changes. The upgrade creates no taxable event, but a cleanly kept record saves you reconstructing things by hand later. Which tools carry the purchase date and holding period along automatically is set out in the comparison of tax tools and portfolio trackers.

(As of October 7, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)