Phoenixcoin was founded by Phenix Crypto Systems Network Inc., owned and operated by John Carmiche (JohnCar) and Michael Burns (iamatrix). The first block was mined (generated) on the 8th of May 2013, but the currency wasn't released to public until about 20000 blocks which resulted in a pre-mine of about 1 million coins. The original name was Phenixcoin. The coin was supposed to be used for various projects by the founding company such as Phenix Poker or Phenix Safe Trade.