NEM XEM (New Economy Movement) is the native cryptocurrency of NEM’s NIS1 public blockchain. Similar to Bitcoin (BTC): it has a network of distributed independent nodes that process and record transactions on a public ledger called “blockchain.” These nodes are incentivized to contribute their time and computing resources and remain incorruptible via transaction fee rewards; these rewards are paid out in XEM coins to each node that manages to add a new block of transactions to the end of the blockchain.
How NEM XEM differs from most other cryptocurrencies is that NIS1 uses a unique proof-of-importance (PoI) algorithm to secure itself.
Proof-of-importance allows anyone to run a node on the NIS1 network and facilitate transactions via a process called “delegated harvesting.” which takes into account every node’s amount of already held coins, how often they transact on the network and who they transact with, to approximate their “importance score” in NEM’s economy.
Based on this score, the nodes receive a share of the fees from the transactions they have helped to process. The proof-of-importance system ensures that the network can identify and reward those that use it the most.
NIS1 also supports such features as multi-signature account contracts, encrypted messaging, the Eigentrust++ reputation system and the Apostille service for notarizing and checking the authenticity of files on the blockchain.
NEM was created by three developers known by their pseudonyms on the Bitcointalk.org forum: Jaguar0625, BloodyRookie and Gimre. Since its inception in 2014-2015, NEM has grown from a personal project of three programmers to a large ecosystem composed of several platforms.
NEM’s overall development and promotion are now managed by NEM Group. NEM Group is a parent company designed to support the growth of the NEM ecosystem leading up to the launch of Symbol (NEM 2.0) and beyond. NEM Group was formed by a team of experienced NEM representatives and enterprise veterans who realized that a simplified structure would benefit the entire ecosystem, while also promoting more community input and engagement.
The NEM Group Board of Directors is responsible for setting the strategy and budgets, and ensuring that all subsidiaries are working towards collective objectives. NEM Group comprises three separate entities: NEM Software, focused on the product and business development; NEM Trading, responsible for all finances, including liquidity management, exchange support and token lending; and NEM Ventures, the venture capital and investment arm, focused on strategic partnerships.