Pi Network Surges Ahead of Protocol 26 Deadline as Bitcoin Holds Above $64K

Pi Network Surges Ahead of Protocol 26 Deadline as Bitcoin Holds Above $64K on Cooling Fed Bets

Two very different crypto stories are shaping U.S. trading today: a macro-driven bitcoin rally tied to shifting Federal Reserve expectations, and a project-specific surge in Pi Network ahead of a hard upgrade deadline.

Pi Network Jumps as Node Deadline Approaches

Pi Network (PI) is the strongest performer among major altcoins today, rising roughly 4.6% to trade near $0.091 — its best weekly candle since April. The move comes just three days before Pi's Protocol 26 deadline on August 11, when every Mainnet node operator must complete a mandatory software upgrade or risk being disconnected from the network. It's the ninth sequential protocol upgrade the Pi Core Team has shipped this year, and the network describes it as the penultimate step before the final planned release, Protocol 27. Traders should note the rally looks upgrade-driven rather than a confirmed reversal: the relative strength index sits near 27, a level typically associated with lingering bearish pressure even during a bounce.

Bitcoin Holds Gains From a Surprise Jobs Miss

Bitcoin is trading in the $64,900–$65,300 range, holding onto Friday's gains after the July U.S. jobs report landed far below forecasts — the economy shed 23,000 jobs against expectations of roughly 80,000 new hires, while unemployment edged up to 4.1%. Weak labor data has made the case for another Fed rate hike much harder to justify, and futures markets now assign better-than-even odds that the central bank pauses at its September 16 meeting rather than tightening further. That shift in rate expectations, combined with continued inflows into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs, has helped keep bitcoin supported near its highest levels of the month.

Headwinds Still in the Background

Not everything is pointing bullish. A hardware-wallet exploit affecting Coldcard devices has drained more than $111 million to date, and a contested proposal known as BIP-110 continues to stir debate within the bitcoin developer community over potential hard-fork implications. Neither issue has derailed the current rally, but both remain live risks investors are tracking heading into next week.

The Bottom Line

Today's market is a split story: bitcoin moving on macro policy expectations, and Pi Network moving on its own infrastructure timeline. With the Fed's next meeting still weeks out and Pi's August 11 deadline arriving first, both threads are worth following closely into the weekend.