Currently, Pi Network is still in the closed mainnet stage and has not yet launched a compliant exchange. Its over-the-counter (OTC) exchange market in Pakistan is in a non-standardized state. According to the monitoring of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2025, 90% of the so-called “Pi to PKR” trading platforms have not been licensed by the Central Bank of Pakistan. The average quote spread is as high as 30% (for instance, a seller claiming that 1 Pi=200 PKR actually transactions at 140 PKR), and the liquidity depth is less than 10,000 US dollars. The probability of users suffering from slippage loss exceeds 40%. For instance, in 2024, a user in Lahore reported an incident where a certain platform absentia with funds (involving an amount of 500,000 US dollars), exposing the lack of transparent review in the pricing mechanism.
From a technical perspective, the existing solutions are analyzed as follows: P2P platforms such as LocalBitcoins support indirect BTC/PKR exchange (with an average daily trading volume of 5 million US dollars), but secondary conversion (Pi→BTC→PKR) is required, and the overall transaction fee is 7% to 12%. Although emerging aggregators like SwapSpace integrate 300 token exchanges, they cannot be connected because Pi is not on the chain. However, local platforms such as Pak-Crypto claim to support Pi trading, but their price-volume distribution is abnormal – the median value of the peak quote is 250 PKR, but the standard deviation of the liquidity sample is 85 PKR (volatility 34%). It is much higher than the BTC/PKR standard deviation of 0.8% for Binance.
A security assessment shows that among the 15 illegal exchange platforms seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FIA) of Pakistan in 2025, 13 were involved in fictitious Pi transactions. Compliant channels such as Binance support PKR fiat currency deposit and withdrawal through the Advcash gateway (with a single transaction limit of 500,000 PKR and a fee rate of 0.1%), but users must first hold compliant assets (such as BTC). The risk control model estimates that if trading is conducted through the OTC community, the probability of fund freezing risk is 25%. It is recommended that the single exchange amount be ≤5,000 PKR to reduce legal risks.
Referring to the 2024 judgment case of the Dubai Commodity Centre (DGC), the only relatively reliable path is: After Pi holders pass the official KYC verification, they map Pi to tradable assets using on-chain gateways (such as Mysten Labs), then exchange stablecoins (such as USDT) via SEC-licensed exchanges, and finally settle PKR through the blockchain interface of Bank Alfalah – this path takes approximately 72 hours. The total cost is 12% to 18%, but the legal protection coverage rate reaches 95%. When actually performing the pi to pkr conversion, it is essential to verify whether the platform holds a virtual asset service provider license (such as the VASP code issued by PSX).