The dev probably realizes he cannot dump all the premine before people cotton on and is taking what he can get, when he can get it.
Which explains why he's intentionally taking less profit than he could get by dumping the price lower than the going rate when the price is actually climbing.
I see now I asked for opinion here in error. My apologies. Expecting a well thought out reply on an internet forum is like buying a lottery ticket. You can wish and pray...
but your chances of getting what you hope for are infinitesimally small. you want an answer that you only want to hear then?
also, what serious dev would want to intentionally devalue his own project?