Pi Network Hackathon Winners, ZEC Rally, BTC Rangebound Post-Fed

After a delay of nearly two months, the Pi Network Core Team has finally disclosed the results of its Pi Hackathon 2025. The event, which concluded in mid-October, featured a 160,000 PI token prize pool aimed at fostering real-world utility for the network’s native token. The top prize of 75,000 PI was awarded to Blind_Lounge, described as a privacy-first social and dating platform. Second place and 45,000 tokens went to the loyalty program app Starmax, while the fast-paced runner game RUN FOR PI secured third place and 15,000 tokens. Five additional projects—Kindrek, Workflet For Pi, PallyPay, SimpleJoy, and Agora Pulse—each received 5,000 PI.

This announcement arrives against a backdrop of significant challenges for Pi Network. Prior to the hackathon results, the team integrated special AI tools to assist users with the KYC verification process. More critically, the project faces a lawsuit from a group of Pioneers alleging the secret offloading of billions of PI tokens, deliberate manipulation of the token’s valuation, and intentional delays to the Open Mainnet launch. The plaintiffs are seeking $10 million in damages. These legal issues may be contributing to PI’s severe price decline. According to CoinGecko data, PI currently trades around $0.20, representing an 8% weekly drop and a staggering 93% crash from its all-time high of $3 earlier this year.

Zcash (ZEC) is demonstrating renewed bullish momentum after a correction in early December. The privacy-focused token witnessed an explosive rally in November, skyrocketing from around $50 in September to above $700. After a pullback to nearly $300, ZEC has rebounded strongly in the past week. Current CoinGecko data places its price at approximately $456, signaling a potential resumption of its uptrend.

This price action has reignited optimistic forecasts from analysts. Some technical setups suggest ZEC could soon surpass the $600 level. Notably, analyst Thor Torrens has projected an even more ambitious long-term target of $4,900. The recent resurgence places ZEC back on the radar of traders looking for assets with high volatility and significant upside potential, following its impressive performance earlier in the year.

Bitcoin’s price action remains indecisive in the wake of the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. The Federal Reserve’s decision to lower interest rates by 0.25% initially spurred enhanced volatility, but BTC has since settled into a consolidation pattern. Over the past few days, the primary cryptocurrency has been trading within a range between $89,000 and $94,500, with its current value hovering around $92,200.

The crypto community is divided on BTC’s next directional move. Analyst Crypto Tony has identified the $93,000 level as a critical threshold, suggesting that a sustained reclaim of this price point is “all the bulls need” to propel Bitcoin toward the $94,000-$96,000 zone. Conversely, other analysts like Ted point to the formation of a potential bear flag pattern on the charts. Ted notes this setup would only be invalidated if BTC soars above $96,000. Failure to break higher could trigger a significant correction, potentially pushing the asset below $86,000 and even revisiting its April lows under $75,000. The market now watches these key technical levels for the next major move.