There’s not much concrete evidence, but Vietnamese investors are once again rushing to mine the Pi cryptocurrency, prompted by speculation that it could be the next Bitcoin.
Pi Network app seen on a smartphone. Photo by VnExpress/Luu Quy
HCMC resident Thanh Lam reinstalled the Pi Network app on his smartphone recently after removing it earlier this year.
He had given up on the cryptocurrency after accumulating nearly 1,000 Pi without being able to use them. Several months later, rumors that developers of the cryptocurrency are set to move it to the next stage pushed Lam to try his luck again.
"Some group members said that Pi will be listed on a cryptocurrency exchange by the end of this month at $314," he said, adding that the price was inspired by the mathematical value of Pi (3.14).
These days, Lam opens the app and taps a button to mine the cryptocurrency, hoping to strike it big with a zero investment.
In Hanoi, Thu Hang has been inviting friends and family to register new accounts and join her group of miners to increase the mining speed for Pi.
"I have heard that within a month it would cost a lot of money to own Pi," she said.
Increasing numbers of Vietnamese citizens have evinced keen interest in the Pi Network since mid-November as rumors swirled about the cryptocurrency being valued at hundreds of U.S. dollars soon.
Data from traffic tracking platform Similarweb shows that access to Pi Network’s website from Vietnam rose nearly 59 percent month-on-month in November.
Globally, Vietnam ranked fourth in traffic to the website behind leaders U.S., India and Russia.
It is now the most downloaded app in Play Store Vietnam’s social category.
The renewed interest in Pi comes as the network celebrated on Twitter its 1,000th day. Its developers claimed to have attracted 29 million users worldwide.