Pi Network Price Forecast: PI holds steady amid app studio costs surge to push user adoption

• Pi Network maintains a consolidating tone on Tuesday, capped below $0.0900.
• Pi Core Team raises App Studio creation pricing starting August 24 to drive real user adoption.
• Speculative demand lags as social interest spikes, as Open Interest declines despite rising social dominance.

Pi Network (PI) extends a consolidation range capped below $0.0900 on Tuesday, holding above the $0.0839 support level. PI token remains under pressure as the Core Team pushes for real user adoption by raising costs for AI-powered app creation, effective from August 24. Leverage-linked risk exposure eases as Open Interest declines despite an increase in social interest. The technical outlook for PI indicates a mild bearish bias as near-term momentum shows weakness.

Pi Network raises cost of AI App Studio

Pi Core Team announced in a social media post on Tuesday that the price for creating and editing in the Pi App Studio will increase starting August 24 to better reflect actual AI costs. The increased costs plan to promote projects and apps with real utility for the network.

The renewed costs will vary depending on the resources required, avoiding any markup to the underlying AI service costs. However, the subsidized price of 0.25 PI token will remain unchanged for creators whose apps show real utility and usage by distinct users.

Retail strength remains mixed

Pi Network is losing its retail strength in the derivatives market despite rising social chatter. Santiment data shows the PI social dominance has increased to 0.02% on Tuesday, up from 0.008% the previous day, implying a boost in social interest amid the App Studio pricing surge announcement. 

However, the PI futures Open Interest (OI) fell to $8.62 million on Tuesday from $8.86 million the previous day, suggesting a declining trend in the notional value of active contracts.

Technical outlook: Will PI token regain bullish momentum?

Pi Network is trading around $0.0860 on Tuesday, maintaining a neutral near-term bias as the price consolidates below $0.0900. From a technical perspective, PI holds firmly above the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement, measured from $0.1341 to $0.0703, at $0.0839. This configuration keeps the downside pressure intact.

Momentum conditions are relatively subdued on the daily chart, as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) sits near 45 and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) histogram remains marginally positive but is flattening, hinting at waning upside momentum.

Looking up, the key resistance for PI remains at the 50% retracement level at $0.1022, guarding the upside to the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level at $0.1190.

On the downside, a daily close below $0.0839 could renew selling pressure, threatening the record low of $0.0703 and keeping the pair vulnerable to deeper losses.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)