Bitcoin has BIPs. Ethereum has EIPs. Pearl (PEARL) has PIPs: Pearl Improvement Proposals. If you mine, run a node or just hold PEARL, PIPs are where changes to the network show up first. This guide explains what a PIP is, the statuses a proposal moves through, the PIPs that exist so far, how a hard fork actually reaches the network and how to stay up to date. Everything reflects the repository as of November 5, 2026.
What a PIP is
A PIP is a design document written in public. It states a problem, proposes a change to Pearl’s rules or processes, and gives enough detail for developers to implement it the same way. PIPs live in the pearl-research-labs/pips repository on GitHub, with a readable version at pearl-research-labs.github.io/pips.
The first one, PIP-1: PIP Purpose and Guidelines, defines the process itself, the same way BIP-1 and EIP-1 do for Bitcoin and Ethereum. Anyone can propose a PIP by opening a pull request.
PIP statuses
PIP-1 lists the statuses a proposal can have:
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | Being written and discussed. Details can still change. |
| Proposed | Considered ready for review and implementation. |
| Final | Accepted and settled. |
| Active | An ongoing process or guideline that stays in force. |
| Withdrawn | Pulled by its author. |
| Rejected | Not accepted. |
| Replaced | Superseded by a newer PIP. |
| Obsolete | No longer relevant. |
The descriptions above are our plain-language summary; read PIP-1 itself for the exact definitions.
The PIP list so far
| PIP | Title | Status | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| PIP-1 | PIP Purpose and Guidelines | Defines the process | Process |
| PIP-2 | Grouped-GEMM Proof-of-Useful-Work for Mixture-of-Experts | Final (created June 1, 2026) | Standards Track, Consensus, hard fork |
| PIP-3 | FP PoUW Certificates | Draft (created July 30, 2026) | Hard fork |
PIP-2: mixture-of-experts mining
Many modern AI models are mixture-of-experts (MoE) models: each token is routed to a few “expert” sub-networks, so the work is many smaller matrix multiplications. Proving each one separately with the original certificate repeats the same commitment and noise work over and over. PIP-2 adds a version 2 certificate where the miner commits once to the activations, once to the stacked expert weights and once to the routing table, and noises the activations once for all experts. Dense models are a special case it handles with virtually the same overhead. Miners not running MoE may keep using version 1, subject to activation rules.
PIP-3: floating-point mining
PIP-3 moves mining from integer math to FP8 (E4M3) multiplication with an FP32 accumulator, through a version 3 certificate. Because floating-point results differ between chips, the draft whitelists hardware: Nvidia Hopper and Blackwell. At activation, version 3 becomes mandatory and versions 1 and 2 are rejected. No activation height is set, and a pull request to promote it to Proposed (#13, opened September 14, 2026) is still open. Read Pearl’s FP8 fork explained and what is FP8 for the details.
Open community proposals
These pull requests are open as of November 5, 2026. None is merged.
- #16, Ada (sm_89) device for FP certificates (opened October 27, 2026). Would add RTX 40 series, RTX 6000 Ada, L4 and L40S to PIP-3 and asks to activate together with it. See will my GPU mine Pearl after FP8.
- #18, AMD RDNA4 (gfx12) device (opened October 31, 2026). Would add RX 9060, RX 9070 and Radeon AI PRO R9700.
- #10, consensus-change documentation and activation notice (a Process PIP, opened August 15, 2026). Its author says mainnet has activated five consensus-affecting changes beyond the launch rules, only one of them with a PIP, and that the shortest notice from release to activation was 1 hour 33 minutes 56 seconds. It proposes documenting every such change and giving more notice.
- #11, weight-provenance disclosure and #12, weight-identity commitments. Both aim at showing that the matrices miners multiply are real model weights, which ties into the debate about how useful Pearl mining is in practice.
How a hard fork actually reaches the network
A PIP on its own changes nothing. The rules that count are the ones the nodes run. The path from idea to live change looks like this:
- A proposal is written and discussed as a PIP.
- The change is implemented in the node and miner software.
- A node release ships it, published on the Pearl releases page.
- The change activates. From then on, nodes on the old version follow different rules.
PR #10’s point is that in practice the release can come first and the notice can be short. For example, node v1.4.1 on August 11, 2026 was the “Salted Noise-seed hardfork”, and v1.5.0 on October 13, 2026 was a security-hardening release whose notes said: “All node operators should upgrade as soon as possible. Miners and mining pools should upgrade first.” As of November 5, 2026 the latest release is pearld v1.5.5 (October 28, 2026).
Who needs to act
- Node operators and pools: upgrade promptly when a consensus release ships.
- Miners: keep your miner up to date, and check your hardware against forks like PIP-3. See how to mine Pearl and Pearl mining pools compared.
- Holders: mining forks do not move your coins. If you hold PEARL in a self-custody wallet such as Oyster, your seed phrase and prl1p address stay the same. Ignore anyone telling you to “migrate” coins for a fork; see Pearl scams and fake tokens.
How to stay updated
- Watch the PIPs repo. On GitHub, use Watch on pearl-research-labs/pips to see new proposals and status changes.
- Watch the node releases. Subscribe to releases on pearl-research-labs/pearl. This is where forks actually ship.
- Follow your pool. Pools usually announce supported forks and required miner versions.
- Check the chain. Our Pearl network stats guide covers block height and block times, useful context when a fork is scheduled by height.
New to the network? Start with what is Pearl (PEARL) and proof of useful work, explained.
Frequently asked questions
What is a PIP in Pearl?
A PIP is a Pearl Improvement Proposal: a public design document that describes a change to Pearl's rules or processes. PIPs live in the pearl-research-labs/pips repository on GitHub. PIP-1 defines the process itself.
What PIPs exist so far?
As of November 5, 2026: PIP-1 (PIP Purpose and Guidelines), PIP-2 (Grouped-GEMM Proof-of-Useful-Work for Mixture-of-Experts, status Final) and PIP-3 (FP PoUW Certificates, status Draft). Several community proposals are open as pull requests but none is merged.
Does a PIP change the network by itself?
No. A PIP is a specification. Consensus changes reach the network through a node release, and a hard fork only takes effect when it activates and node operators run the new version. Watch the Pearl node releases page for the real upgrade.
Do I need to do anything with my wallet when Pearl hard forks?
Usually no. Mining forks such as PIP-2 and PIP-3 change how blocks are proved, not your addresses or seed phrase. Node operators, pools and miners must upgrade. Be suspicious of anyone asking you to move or 'swap' coins for a fork.
