Neptune Cash had a small premine to fund the work required before the network could stand on its own. Unlike projects that fork an existing blockchain, Neptune Cash was built from scratch. From the first commit to mainnet launch, development took nearly four years, requiring sustained original research, engineering, protocol design, security work, infrastructure, and testing before launch.
The premine represented about 1.98% of the 42,000,000 NPT supply limit. It was created in the genesis block to support early development and compensate the investors and contributors who helped make Neptune Cash possible during that long build phase. The remaining supply is issued through competitive proof-of-work mining over time.
Neptune Cash had a transparent launch: years of visible development, a published whitepaper, and no rush to market. The small premine was a practical way to fund the work needed before the network could stand on its own, especially since Neptune Cash was built from scratch.
After launch, new NPT is issued through proof-of-work mining, meaning tokens must be earned through computational work rather than staking or passive ownership.