The Pi Network team has come under fire for introducing Pi Network Ventures, a $100 million fund to support startups within its ecosystem. The initiative, unveiled on May 14, was met with criticism from the project's community, known as Pioneers, who had been eagerly anticipating substantial progress after a six-year wait.

An analyst known as Dr. Altcoin expressed concerns in a recent post, questioning the use of community funds to develop unfinished decentralized applications (DApps). He highlighted delays in the mainnet launch, originally scheduled for 2022 but now postponed to 2025, primarily due to the absence of the promised 100 DApps. Dr. Altcoin criticized the team for planning to utilize a portion of the $100 million fund to build what should have been established already.

Moreover, transparency issues were raised, including delays in delivering referral rewards and ambassador bonuses, as well as complications in the KYC process. Dr. Altcoin also cast doubt on the allocation of ad revenue from the Pi Network's in-app advertising system.

Another analyst pointed out procedural flaws in the Pi Network Ventures fund application process, conducted through a Google Form, and labeled it as inadequate for a project of Pi Network's scale and objectives.

Following the announcement of Pi Network Ventures, the value of Pi Coin dropped below $1, indicating disappointment in the market. Notwithstanding the criticism, user Dimas Nawawi defended the project, stating that some disappointed influencers and Pioneers may not comprehend the purpose of Pi Network and are solely focused on quick financial gains.

Nawawi clarified that the Pi Network Ventures initiative is linked to the ongoing development stage of the Mainnet Node environment. He emphasized that the launch of DApps and the GCV implementation are contingent upon activating Nodes, Supernodes, and Smart Contracts within the ecosystem. Furthermore, he underscored that Pi is currently in the 'Limited Open Network' phase, suggesting that only dedicated Pioneers will thrive in the long term.