Earlier members mined at a higher rate to reward their contributions to and leap of faith in the network when the network was small and young. Pi aims to be the world’s most widely used and distributed cryptocurrency. To achieve that goal, Pi needed to bootstrap its network in the beginning, and therefore, incentivized its earliest members to make contributions that would set it on a path to success (e.g., securing and growing the network). The Pre-Mainnet mining mechanism began at 3.14 Pi/h and halved whenever the network increased in size by a factor of 10x without a definite max supply, starting at 1,000 Engaged Pioneers. This occurred five times before the Mainnet Phase launched on December 28, 2021 when a new mining mechanism along with a clear supply model was introduced.
Starting March 1, 2022, the declining rewards issuance formula based on the supply model took effect, adjusting the systemwide base mining rate based on a monthly supply limit defined by the formula and replacing the milestone-based halving explained above. Generally, the mining rate declines month over month due to the limit of supply, the growing network size and Pioneer mining activity. This formula helps ensure that Pioneer mining rewards are within the total supply limit of 65 billion allocated for mining rewards as announced in the new chapters of the whitepaper drafts released in December 2021. This declining rewards issuance formula along with the new mining mechanism (which went into effect on March 14, 2022) balances the network’s need for growth, accessibility, longevity, and scarcity. Additionally, it right-sizes the Pioneers’ rewards for contribution to the network.