Pi Network's final Protocol 23 upgrade lands Monday with smart contracts in tow

@PiCoreTeam confirmed Protocol 23 activates May 18, flipping Pi from a basic mainnet into a programmable L1 with native smart contracts and dApps.

The node deadline was pushed from May 15 to May 19 to keep validators synced, while Pi App Studio now converts AI-generated apps from Claude Code and Codex into Pi-native apps in minutes.

Editor's take: This is potentially the biggest update of the year for crypto.