Mobile-first blockchain Pi Network has launched a $100 million fund to invest in initiatives built on its infrastructure.

According to a May 14 announcement, the Pi Foundation is launching Pi Network Ventures with an initial investment of $100 million in Pi (PI) tokens and US dollars. The fund will invest in startups and businesses building on Pi Network or contributing to its broader ecosystem.

“This strategic program intends to invest in high-quality startups and companies across sectors, driving innovation and ecosystem growth,” Pi Network said in an X post.

Source: Pi Network

The Pi Foundation, the organization behind Pi Network, is described as an “ownerless” entity focused on supporting long-term ecosystem development. The foundation said the new venture fund will draw from the 10% of Pi tokens reserved for ecosystem initiatives.

Pi Network had not responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment by publication.

Related: Is Pi Network dead? What really went wrong behind the hype

What is Pi Network Ventures?

Pi Network Ventures is tasked with increasing Pi’s utility by investing in startups and businesses that integrate it into products and services. The new organization will attempt to bring more apps, transactions and companies into the network while developing new use cases:

“By aligning incentives and providing resources to high-potential founders, startups and companies, this initiative aims to create a feedback loop of innovation and adoption.“

Related: Pi Network price nears all-time lows as supply pressure mounts

Pi Network Ventures’ strategy

Per the announcement, Pi Network Ventures plans to invest in startups from the early stages to Series B funding rounds and beyond. The hope is that such an approach allows access to high-potential innovators while also helping scale proven businesses.

Pi Network Ventures claims to differ from other crypto ecosystem programs in its focus and processes. The announcement said the company aims not to limit itself to crypto investments but to also fund general technology sectors, including generative AI and AI applications, fintech, embedded payments, e-commerce platforms, marketplaces, social networks and real-world consumer and enterprise applications.

Another claimed difference is that the investment fund aims to act like traditional Silicon Valley venture capital firms. This will reportedly be primarily seen in the sourcing, selection and vetting process, which aims to “identify and support high-impact and disruptive startups and businesses.”

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Ukraine is reportedly moving closer to adopting Bitcoin as a national reserve asset, a move that could bolster its financial resilience amid the ongoing war with Russia.

Lawmakers are reportedly working on a Bitcoin (BTC) national reserve proposal, with a draft bill in its final stages, according to Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a member of parliament who confirmed the plan to local media outlet Incrypted.

The proposal was announced during the CRYPTO 2025 conference in Kyiv on Feb. 6. “We will soon submit a draft law from the industry allowing the creation of crypto reserves,” Zhelezniak said.

Cointelegraph reached out to Zhelezniak for comment on the bill’s status but had not received a response by publication.

Related: Bitcoin treasury firms driving $200T hyperbitcoinization — Adam Back

Bitcoin has gained international attention as a national reserve asset since the election of US President Donald Trump in November 2024. On March 7, Trump signed an executive order to establish a national Bitcoin reserve seeded with BTC confiscated from criminal cases.

Source: Margo Martin

A month later, Swedish MP Rickard Nordin issued an open letter urging Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson to consider adopting Bitcoin as a national reserve asset, citing its growing recognition as a “hedge against inflation,” Cointelegraph reported on April 11.

Related: Satoshi Nakamoto turns 50 as Bitcoin becomes US reserve asset

Legal challenges may delay adoption

While Ukraine’s push for a national Bitcoin reserve marks a potentially historic shift in crypto policy, it may require “significant legal change,” according to Kyrylo Khomiakov, regional head of CEE, Central Asia and Africa, at crypto exchange Binance.

“We commend Ukraine’s ambition to establish a strategic crypto reserve,” he told Cointelegraph. “Implementing such a reserve would necessitate significant legal changes, indicating that this process will not be swift.”

He added, “Another positive aspect is that this initiative will likely lead to greater regulatory clarity in Ukraine, as the government will need to articulate its stance more clearly.”

Ukraine was reportedly planning to legalize cryptocurrencies in early 2025 with the finalization of a draft bill in coordination with the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to Daniil Getmantsev, head of the tax committee of the Verkhovna Rada.

On April 8, Ukraine’s financial regulator proposed taxing certain crypto transactions as personal income with a rate of up to 23%, excluding crypto-to-crypto transactions and stablecoins.

Not all voices in Ukraine’s crypto industry are optimistic about the timing of the proposal.

” The country is broke. More than 50% of the budget is in grants and loans from the European Union,” said Michael Chobanian, the founder of Ukraine-based Kuna exchange. “The population is decreasing at the fastest rate in the world. Men are kidnapped and sent to the army against their will.”

“What kind of BTC reserves are we talking about here? This is done only to divert your attention,” Chobanian claimed.

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Private credit marketplace Pareto has introduced a new synthetic dollar aimed at linking institutional investors with decentralized finance (DeFi) opportunities — a move that highlights the expanding role of stablecoins in global finance.

The newly launched USP synthetic dollar is fully backed by real-world private credit, Pareto told Cointelegraph on May 15. To mint USP, users must deposit stablecoins such as USDC (USDC) and USDt (USDT), which are then held as collateral.

“USP is backed 1:1 by the stablecoins used during the minting process,” Pareto co-founder Matteo Pandolfi told Cointelegraph in a written statement.

The deposited funds are placed into Pareto’s credit vaults and lent to what the company describes as “vetted institutional borrowers,” generating yields for participants.

To maintain its peg to the US dollar, Pareto uses what it calls a “native backing” process. Each USP token is minted only when an equivalent amount of USDC or USDT is deposited, ensuring full collateralization when the token is created. An arbitrage mechanism also supports the dollar peg’s ongoing stability.

In addition, Pareto has set up a protocol-funded stability reserve to act as a buffer in case of borrower defaults.

Related: Coinbase invests in Canadian stablecoin issuer

Institutional entry into RWA credit market

The company said the synthetic dollar gives institutional investors a regulated onchain entry point into real-world asset (RWA) credit markets — a segment of the tokenization industry that has expanded rapidly over the past year. 

Recent examples of private credit tokenization include Tradable’s portfolio of 30 credit positions and Apollo’s Diversified Credit Securitize Fund.

When asked about the potential risks of connecting DeFi to the often opaque private credit sector, Pareto acknowledged the concern but emphasized its approach to risk management.

“That’s a fair concern, but Pareto was specifically built to address the inefficiencies and opacity that have historically plagued traditional credit markets,” Pandolfi said, adding:

“By bringing private credit onchain, we enable real-time transparency, programmable risk management, and automated settlement while reducing counterparty risk and operational friction.”A chart highlighting the growth of the tokenized credit market. Source: RWA.xyz

Related: VanEck to launch its first RWA tokenization fund

Stablecoins: From crypto niche to the mainstream

Although synthetic dollars account for a small fraction of the total stablecoin market, they are driving innovation by introducing new methods for creating and managing fiat-pegged assets.

Ethena, the largest synthetic dollar network by market capitalization, offers Staked USDe (sUSDe) tokenholders an annual percentage yield of 10%. Roughly 368,000 investors were earning yield as of January, Cointelegraph reported.

Despite the success of synthetic variants, collateralized stablecoins continue to dominate the market — a position US regulators are keen to preserve through proposed legislation like the GENIUS Act and STABLE Act.

Under President Donald Trump, the US government has recognized the role of stablecoins as a “way to support the dollar’s worldwide use as a reserve currency,” Komodo Platform’s chief technology officer, Kadan Stadelmann, told Cointelegraph in a written statement.

“Stablecoins are the second-most adopted blockchain use case behind Bitcoin — more than NFTs and DeFi,” he said. “US dollar-pegged stablecoins account for a mind-boggling 1% of the M2 money supply.”

The total stablecoin market is approaching $250 billion, with Tether accounting for roughly $150 billion. Source: DefiLlama

Sergey Gorbunov, CEO of Interop Labs and co-founder of Axelar Protocol, told Cointelegraph that US regulators have prioritized stablecoin legislation because they know there’s more at stake than just crypto. 

“This is about setting the conditions for regulated US financial firms to lead on stablecoins and preserve the primacy of the US dollar, globally,” he said.

Related: SEC approves first yield-bearing stablecoin security