monero can by definition never be a premine.
it was here at day one with block one.
it was overly visible - we have at least 15 threads here, it is in the top 15 of coinmarketcap etc. pp.
bytecoin was a premine because it was not announced - they came here with 82% of mined coins.
even the always yesterdays at r/bitcoin were discussing monero as an implentation of sidechains....
But tell me, if Monero ever goes to mainstream, what will be the difference: Monero is not a premined but still like 80-90 % mined vs. Monero being 80-90 % mined due to premine?
Who wants to buy a coin that is almost mined? Even bitcoin has problems to find new buyers and therefore the price is declining month after month.
Ill just copy what I posted on the Monero forum:
To start, I want to say I'm still undecided over this matter.
On the one hand, I usually am opposed to changing a 'social contract' because it creates uncertainty. On the other had, Monero is clearly suffering from the current high inflation.
The question we need to ask ourselves is the following: Will Monero reach 'crypto mainstream' before a considerable amount of XMR is mined?
off course "crypto mainstream" and "considerable" are not objective terms, but this is how I see it: If 90% of the coins are mined before XMR is a top5 coin in market cap ranking, It would be a bad thing. If XMR would enter the top5 and only 40% of the coins are mined, I think the "fast emission" isn't a problem.
Why do I compare with the 'crypto mainstream' and not with 'global mainstream'? Bitcoin will be mined >90% in just a few years.
A currency will be used by the public or it won't be used. The amount of coins left to be mined is NOT a decisive factor. The EUR and USD are constantly being instamined at will by a board of some rich folks.
The people want a currency to be more fair? Well, they don't want to be bothered with mining, as long as the network is strong. Mining supports the network, emission of coins is a SECUNDARY factor in this. It's just the incentive to support the network.So let's take a step back: in a few years, XMR will be mined >90%. If that is a serious problem (I don't think it will be, see above) then it will become worthless. But also BTC will go down the same road. So if people are advocating to change the emission because the emission is going to fast at the moment, you need to be aware that you are also advocating a slower emission for BTC. Unless you agree that the only reason for the emission change is the question I described at the start: "Will Monero reach 'crypto mainstream' before a considerable amount of XMR is mined?" If the answer is NO, then MAYBE an emission change is sensible.
If an emssion change IS sensible, I would like to say that the block reward change needs to be done slowly, to give miners the possibility to adapt to the situation. I proposed on #Monero-MEW the following: Change the block time with 1 second a day until we reach 2.5 minutes per block. Don't change block rewards. Also announce the change at least 10 days beforehand.
About tail emission: I'm not against a perpetual minimum block reward. A possible implementation of this was announced right from the start. 0.1 XMR seems OK.
edit: I think the current uncertainity around emission is also a factor in the current downtrend in BTC/XMR. Any decision will be positive at this point. It takes away the uncertainity.