The NEM (New Economy Movement) has managed to secure and undisclosed amount of funding just a few months after their launch.
Cointelegraph spoke with Makoto, one of the projects lead developers, to find out their plans for the capital, why NEM has the “best designed” blockchain, and what applications are already implementing this technology.
Cointelegraph: First of all congratulations on the VC funding you recently received. Can you give us more details about that?
Makoto: The funding is from a very high profile group here in Japan and we worked very hard to get their attention for a business that we want to build on top of the NEM platform. They are already very familiar with Bitcoin, but the NEM technology was solid and compelling, so we were able to make a good case for using NEM instead of Bitcoin or other projects like Ripple.
Compared to other block chain platforms, NEM has many significant advantages for people looking to build applications that can benefit from secure information and value transfer. NEM was made by professional programmers and the programmatic API was designed very carefully to be easy to use. Using the API, within seconds you can create an account secured by multisig and use the account to send and receive money and information. Multisig in NEM is implemented as an integral part of the system and so another advantage of our platform is that we make it easy to secure your money.
“If we are successful, we can have a significant impact on the quality of life for billions of people.”
Though still in testing, NEM's implementation of blockchain "assets," which we call Mosaics, is thus far the best designed in crypto, associating assets with an identifiable domain name that is registered on the blockchain. Our API to create and use the assets is very simple. We spent months considering how the mosaics should be designed and what features should be supported, and I think we really nailed it.
Finally, NEM relies on math and not on wasteful mining to secure the blockchain, so companies that care about the environment should seriously consider NEM. We only have one Earth and we should work together to respect both the planet and human life, as the two are integrally linked.
All these advantages of NEM are going to be used to create a new kind of company that hopes to expand the security of the block chain to common people in their everyday lives. If we are successful, we can have a significant impact on the quality of life for billions of people.
Unfortunately I am not allowed reveal more details at this time, but I hope that sometime later on, I will be able to say more.
CT: Where are you planning to spend this money on and how do you think this funding can help NEM in general?
M: While we are confident we will get much more funding in the coming months, the initial support we received is enough to implement a prototype system and get some users. To start with, we hope to get a few thousand users to test the system and provide feedback.
This funding will help NEM in many ways. First, it speaks to the legitimacy of NEM as a project that real, legal companies are being created that use NEM and are compelling enough to get venture funding. Second, I am able to leave my job, which I am already in the process of doing. This will give me more time to work on NEM and also to push the development of the NEM ecosystem forward. With more resources we will be able to make NEM the most compelling platform available.
“At the end of the day, solving a problem people have is more important than increasing the market cap.”
CT: Would this investment have any effect on the price and how important do you see price being for the success of NEM?
M: I think the investment will not directly affect the price of XEM. However, bringing in users will certainly help improve awareness of NEM, which will likely affect the price. I think the price of XEM has little bearing on the success of the NEM platform.
At the end of the day, solving a problem people have is more important than increasing the market cap. That is why we have not tried to pump the price of NEM at all or create hype out of nothing. We want to deliver solid solutions and let the results speak for themselves. Focusing on the price will never take you to where you want to be in the long run.
CT: What other projects are being implemented using NEM?
M: I know of at least three other legal companies being established in the NEM ecosystem. I cannot talk about them, but one project, PhotoMead, has already been announced. It is a project similar to Instagram, but with the ability to buy and sell images. Aimed at bringing together both professional photographers and social photo sharing, the project could turn out to be very interesting if it is executed well. If it went viral, we could quickly see many users all over the world using NEM in their daily lives.
CT: It has almost been 4 months since NEM was launched, how do you see the past few months?
M: These four months have gone by so quickly! Everyday has been so incredibly busy that I often don't even have time to eat. I have been giving many presentations around Japan, trying to build up a group of people who are interested in the NEM platform. Right now we have the best designed blockchain platform in existence and a lot of people have been impressed when they see what we have made. Unfortunately, a lot of people still do not know anything about NEM, so it is a very hard battle to fight to spread awareness of what we are doing.
“Right now we have the best designed blockchain platform in existence.”
CT: Where do you see NEM 4 months from now?
M: Four months from now, the prototype for the company that got venture funding should be running with some real users. Helping to create this prototype is a top priority for me right now and is consuming every waking second of my life.
NEM brought new innovations into crypto at its launch with POI, Eigentrust++ for nodes, and system-level, configurable multisig accounts. In the next 4 months, look for this trend to continue with more breakthroughs that will increase the utility of NEM and stretch the boundaries of blockchain technology.
CT: What was the biggest challenge you faced after launch? I remember having some issues with incentivizing server nodes that could cause centralization in long run.
M: We will solve this by our high speed node program. Our draft proposal for the high speed node program was released and the community commented on it. After current projects that are underway are finished, it will be a top priority to implement. In the meantime we are happy that peer-to-peer time syncing in nodes and Eigentrust++, new innovations with the NEM blockchain, are performing well and our node network is very stable.
CT: Where was NEM this time last year, where is it standing now, and where will it be 1 year from now?
M: One year ago we were still in the alpha test phase. There was a lot of pressure from the community to launch even back then, but it was for the better that we spent the time extensively testing the network and building the foundation of NEM so that later features could be easily and safely added to NEM, one of which like our asset program, Mosiacs, which is currently being built.
One year from now we will be at a very interesting reflection point. By then we will have incorporated many advanced features on the NEM blockchain. We hope at that point to start to see some interest and investigations from many 3rd party industrial partners into NEM as solutions for their business models and applications. If that is happening, then as a benchmark we can know that NEM is on the right track. In other words, our KPIs should be user and business adoption and not the market cap.
CT: Lastly, any advice for other cryptocurrency businesses and startups who are still in the early stages and trying to pursue a similar path as you did.
M: Use NEM. It's a fast, secure, and well-tested system. We can help take your business to the next level.