Cryptocurrencies are getting more and more popular every single day. This is a full-fledged beginner’s guide to NEM cryptocurrency, the new economy movement, a blockchain project focused on enabling the development of a smart economy. The NEM platform allows individuals and enterprises to develop blockchain solutions like voting solutions or financial processing solutions.
NEM cryptocurrency was the first blockchain project which was not born from a blockchain fork. The native cryptocurrency on the platform is called XEM.
Problems Solved By NEM Cryptocurrency
The NEM platform uses a Smart Asset System which focuses “on building exactly what you need, whether that’s fintech system, tracking logistics, an ICO, document notarization, decentralized authentication, or much more.”
Simply put, NEM’s blockchain is built from the ground up so that it can accommodate anything that is thrown at it. The Smart Asset System allows the NEM platform to be interfaced with individual applications using Application Programming Interface (API) calls.
This has made developers to utilize the platform because all that is needed is to ‘make a call.’
The Birth Of NEM
The NEM platform might not exist today if UtopianFuture, a user at a Bitcoin Talk forum, had not initiated talk of an entirely community driven blockchain project. Initially, UtopianFuture suggested a fork from the NXT blockchain.
However, this was not followed and NEM cryptocurrency started developing its code from scratch using Java, a computer programming language. In June 2014, an unstable version was released.
A stable version on March 2015 followed it. NEM’s developers later rebuilt the code in C++ as Catapult (see below). NEM’s blockchain uses the Proof-of-Importance consensus algorithm.
With this algorithm, unlike with other popular algorithms, XEM coins can only be ‘harvested’ not mined or staked. This algorithm uses nodes on its network to validate transactions.
The reputation system employed in the network performs routine checks on nodes to ascertain their health. Instead of measuring the importance of a node by the amount of work done, the reputation system ranks the nodes with the quality of work done.
The consensus algorithm used by NEM cryptocurrency is not processor-intensive, and XEM harvesting can be done on a personal computer eliminating the centralization that comes with other algorithms like Proof-of-Work employed on the Bitcoin blockchain.
The NEM blockchain employs multi signatures to validate transactions before they can be added to the blockchain. The NEM Foundation ran the platform until 2020, when it began closing down and NEM Group Limited took over operations.
The XEM Token
XEM is the native virtual currency used on the NEM platform to cater for transaction costs. The NEM blockchain has a fixed amount of XEM tokens eliminating an inflation scenario.
You are most likely already asking yourself where to buy XEM from, so here it is. Few exchanges still list XEM. Binance delisted it in June 2024, and on October 9, 2026, CoinGecko showed XEM markets on Poloniex, Gate, Zaif and Coincheck.
NanoWallet, NEM’s official wallet app for Windows, Mac and Linux, supports the storage of XEM coins. The wallet also acts as a simple interface between the NEM platform and the user. It works with Ledger hardware wallets, but Trezor Suite, the app for TREZOR devices, does not support NEM.
Key Features Of The NEM platform
Catapult, NEM’s new platform coded in C++, was among the top projects initiated by the NEM Foundation. It went live in March 2021 as a separate public blockchain, Symbol, with its own token, XYM, while the original NEM chain and XEM kept running.
Major features on the NEM blockchain include:
- Address Smart Assets
These addresses can be used to represent almost anything on the platform. Whether it’s property ownership documents or a virtual currency belonging to a specific user. The addresses are configured to represent either a group or a single entity on the blockchain and allowing interaction between different entities on the blockchain. - NEM Cryptocurrency Namespaces
These have the same feature as traditional domain names used on the internet. The namespaces give a user the ability ‘to create a labeled space for a business or individual’s assets on the blockchain.’ The creation of a namespace costs a user 100 XEM coins for the main domain and 10 XEM coins for every subdomain. - Mosaics
These are fixed assets on the NEM blockchain that have identical features and which are programmed to meet a specific goal. They can range from votes, other currencies, loyalty points at a retail store, etc.
Extra Reading After This Guide to NEM
Investors can also read the 2019 NEM Price Prediction and Technical Analysis article, now in the site’s archive. UseTheBitcoin also covers price news like the 25% spike in NEM price after NEM trading on Coincheck resumed.
Interested parties can follow the guide on how to buy NEM after the Binance delisting. The popular exchange itself stopped trading XEM in June 2024.
