PiRC2 Full Analysis: Pi's Second Token Standard, What Problem Does It Solve?

On April 22, the same day V22 officially launched, the Pi Core Team quietly dropped another piece of news—PiRC2 open testnet review.

Unlike PiRC1's token issuance framework, PiRC2 does something completely different: it defines the subscription payment standard within the Pi ecosystem.

Honestly, this is more important than most people realize.

What is the Relationship Between PiRC1 and PiRC2?

Let's clarify this common confusion first.

PiRC1 and PiRC2 are not a 'version one' and 'version two' relationship; they are two design standards addressing different problems:

	PiRC1	PiRC2
Problem Solved	How to issue ecosystem tokens on Pi	How to handle subscription payments on Pi
Core Mechanism	Liquidity pools, PiPower, Engage-to-Earn	Subscription smart contracts, automatic deductions
Status	V22 already live on mainnet	Under testnet review, mainnet deployment requires V23

Both are part of Pi Network's 'Request for Comment (RfC)' series, similar to Ethereum's EIP proposals—they are protocol design documents where the official team seeks community feedback.

PiRC2's Core Design: Subscription Payments

PiRC2 aims to make subscription payments on the blockchain as natural as in real life.

You might think this is ordinary; isn't that how Netflix and Spotify work? But on the blockchain, this is surprisingly difficult to achieve.

Problems with Traditional Blockchains

On most blockchains, every transaction requires your manual signature confirmation. This is fine for 'one-time payments,' but it's a nightmare for 'monthly automatic deductions'—you'd have to manually approve it every month, which is completely impractical.

Ethereum attempts to solve this with ERC-4337 (Account Abstraction) and EIP-1337, but the former requires funds to be locked in advance, and the latter requires repeated signatures. Both designs have significant flaws.

How Does PiRC2 Work?

PiRC2 adopts a token allowance mechanism based on Stellar ecosystem's Soroban technology, allowing users to approve a subscription once, after which subsequent payments can be automatically executed according to a predefined schedule.

The most crucial design is that the system keeps funds in the user's wallet, only deducting them when a payment is triggered, without needing to lock up funds in advance.

To illustrate with an analogy: it's like a bank's credit card authorization—you authorize a store to charge you under specific conditions, but the money remains in your account, not transferred to the store for safekeeping.

How Do Merchants Use PiRC2?

According to the official configuration document, merchants can register the service name, price (minimum unit is 0.0000001 Pi), billing cycle (weekly, monthly, etc.), trial period, and contract validity period within a smart contract.

After subscribing, users can:

Set whether to enable auto-renewal
Extend or cancel subscriptions at any time
Toggle the auto-renewal switch

If a payment fails (e.g., insufficient balance), auto-renewal will automatically turn off, and failed deductions will not be forced.

Which Application Scenarios Does PiRC2 Support?

Official target application scenarios include: streaming media, digital memberships, AI tools, e-commerce, and local business subscription services.

These are subscription models everyone uses in real life. PiRC2's goal is to enable these models to operate directly on the Pi blockchain, without needing any centralized payment processor.

Current Status: Under Testnet Review

It's important to clarify something here, as there are many misunderstandings in the community.

PiRC2 is currently still in the testnet review phase. Mainnet deployment depends on audit results and PiRC2 community feedback, and there is no confirmed mainnet launch schedule yet.

The Pi Core Team states that the contract code has been publicly released on GitHub for technical review, and an external auditing service is currently reviewing the contract.

This means:

What developers can do now    → Integrate, test, and report issues on the testnet
What ordinary miners can do now  → Understand the mechanism, await mainnet opening
Estimated availability       → After V23 (May 15) launch, depending on audit results

Why Was PiRC2 Released on April 22, the Same Day as V22?

The timing of this release is no coincidence.

V22 brought PiRC1 and on-chain protocol upgrades, forming the foundation for the token issuance framework. PiRC2's simultaneous release tells developers that Pi's smart contract capabilities are not just about 'issuing tokens,' but about building a complete digital business ecosystem.

Honestly, if there were only PiRC1, token issuance in the Pi ecosystem would be complete, but the 'use cases' for tokens would still be limited. PiRC2 fills the critical gap of subscription payments, giving developers the tools to build truly sustainable business models, not just one-time token transactions.

The Significance of PiRC2: Bigger Than It Seems

It enables Pi to support real business models.

Most cryptocurrencies can only handle 'one-time payments,' which severely limits commercial application scenarios. With PiRC2, apps built on Pi can offer monthly digital services, SaaS product subscriptions, local business membership systems, and any service model requiring recurring deductions.

It forms a complete closed loop with PiRC1.

PiRC1 addresses 'how tokens are issued,' while PiRC2 addresses 'how tokens are continuously used.' Together, they form a complete ecosystem token lifecycle—from issuance to circulation to continuous use.

It truly differentiates Pi from other blockchains.

Pi positions this design as a cleaner on-chain recurring payment path than Ethereum's ERC-4337, while also removing the repeated signature issue required by EIP-1337. If this can ultimately be achieved, Pi will have true technical differentiation in the subscription payment scenario.

Are There Any Issues with PiRC2?

Honestly, there are a few areas worth continued observation.

Audit results determine everything. External audits are still ongoing. If significant security vulnerabilities are found, the mainnet deployment schedule could be delayed. Smart contract security cannot be taken lightly; historically, many DeFi projects have lost large amounts of user funds due to contract vulnerabilities.

Developer adoption is the real test. The technology might be ready, but will real developers build applications on it? Will real users be willing to pay subscription fees with Pi? These questions can only be answered after mainnet launch.

'Subscription' is not an intuitive behavior for cryptocurrency users. Most crypto users are accustomed to 'holding' and 'trading,' not 'subscribing to services.' PiRC2 aims to change not just the technology, but user habits, which is actually a greater challenge than the technical difficulty.

OrbitWatch's Tracking Plan

OrbitWatch will continue to track PiRC2's current progress through the following channels:

GitHub Audit Progress PiRC2's code is public on GitHub. The results of the external audit will be a key indicator of whether PiRC2 can successfully launch on the mainnet.

First Batch of PiRC2 Applications After V23 Mainnet Launch After the V23 smart contract launch, the types of the first batch of services adopting the PiRC2 subscription mechanism, and their actual usage, are the data OrbitWatch is most interested in tracking.

Community Feedback on PiRC2 Design GitHub and official channels are currently open for community feedback. Whether significant design controversies are raised, and how the Pi Core Team responds, these discussions themselves are indicators of ecosystem health.

Further Reading

Data sources: Pi Network official blog (minepi.com/blog), Pi Network official Twitter (@PiCoreTeam), coinfomania, coinpedia, hokanews, MEXC News. All analysis does not constitute investment advice. OrbitWatch is an independent Pi Network ecosystem observatory and is not affiliated with the official Pi Network.