What is Pre-Mining?

Pre-mining refers to the mining of a cryptocurrency asset (by the project's creators and core software developers) before a project is introduced to the public and its underlying blockchain network protocol goes live for the first time. Pre-mining allows the founders of a project to possess a pre-designated pool of funds, which is often used to ensure the longevity of the project. However, pre-mining can sometimes be seen as a controversial practice because the creators of the project are able to own the assets before a market price is set.