#Monero (XMR) was not pre-mined, but there was an interesting twist in its early history. It started as BitMonero, a fork of #Bytecoin (BCN), and Bytecoin was heavily pre-mined—about 80% of its total supply was already in existence at launch. That’s what triggered controversy and led to the Monero fork in 2014.

What Happened?

Bytecoin’s Dirty Secret – When people realized 80% of Bytecoin was already mined before the public even knew about it, trust was shattered.

Monero Forked from It – A group of developers split from Bytecoin, launching BitMonero (soon renamed Monero), with a fresh emission schedule and no pre-mine.

Completely New Mining – Monero started with zero coins in existence and used a proof-of-work model from block 1, meaning it wasn’t just handed to early insiders.

The Magic Premine Debate

While Monero itself wasn’t pre-mined, its origin from Bytecoin, which was pre-mined, is what raises eyebrows. Some suspect that the same people behind Bytecoin could have also had influence over Monero’s early days. But that’s speculation, as Monero was completely rebuilt with a fairer distribution.

Bottom Line:

Bytecoin = Pre-mined scam.

Monero = Forked from it, but started fresh.

No “magic” instant supply dump like some altcoins.

It’s cleaner than most projects, but its roots in a shady pre-mined coin will always be a little suspect.