Newsletter #4 (2014/8/12)
Plans for the release of the final development contract
It has been a busy time for the development team as they work to get all the machinery well-oiled and ready for action. Kudos to them as we believe they are making excellent progress. With impeccably well-written code and over 2,000 tests, we are sure that the future of NEM is bright.
Earlier this year, UtopianFuture drafted the preliminary draft Development Contract. A final Development Contract note was meant to follow, but then he suddenly left. Lest we forget, this Development Contract Note is in the works and we will be publishing it soon.
Currently there are no major changes from the preliminary Development Contract.
Development progress
There was a blockchain reset on August 6, 2014, and it went smoothly. New versions of the one-click install were released as well. Please see http://news.nemcoin.com/nem-alpha-one-click-install-client-is-now-available/ about how to set up the wallet. You can ask for free test NEM here: http://forum.nemcoin.com/index.php?topic=2232.0.
The blockchain explorer is continuing to make more progress. For those who want to see what the blockchain explorer looks like, it can be found at http://chain.nem.ninja/. Thanks to Freigeist, Patmast3r, and BloodyRookie, who have been continually working on this to get it up and running. It’s still in alpha and feedback is very much appreciated.
More things are being planned, including the development of a mobile wallet. We hope to get them ready before the end of the year. Because the development team is already busy working on NIS and NCC, it is planned to have a separate development group created to work on mobile development in parallel. Please see http://forum.nemcoin.com/index.php?topic=2337.msg3939#msg3939 about the mobile development and other “epic projects” that are being planned.
On the media front, the NEM marketing team has just released a document outlining the basic facts of NEM. Please find the time to read it and share it with your family and friends. If you have the time, please translate it into your language. The file can be found here: http://goo.gl/Yc1OAC
Final logo design is decided on
The selection of the logo finally came to an end on August 5, 2014, ending half a year of deliberation. The logo design looks like a three-bladed fan, symbolizing financial freedom, decentralization, and equality of opportunity—three key concepts that unite together to form NEM!
Poloniex to list NEM upon launch
Poloniex has agreed to list the NEM cryptocurrency on their exchange at launch. This is great news for the community and everyone is urged to play their role in promoting NEM coins to other exchanges, as well, so that many people will be able to trade NEM when we go live. It’s noteworthy that Poloniex will do a code review before adding us since they want to avoid scams and malware. Since NIS is neither, we have no doubt we’ll pass it.
With NEM coins being listed on at least one exchange, we are confident that NEM will soon attract the attention of more exchanges.
Stake distribution ahead
Our plans on how exactly redemption of stakes is going to work are being decided, and there is one thing that is certain — YOU WILL NEED YOUR BTT ACCOUNT! (unless of course you have a token on the NXT AE). So everyone please make sure you are on the list and have access to your BTT account (time to stop lurking). We will start to implement our plan rather soon, since we want to give people enough time to claim their stake. Details will be announced — hopefully — in the next newsletter.
The nember list can be found here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ak91SD0veCeddDdmTkdaWV8zbHp2dWlodDVEVUItbXc&usp=sharing#gid=14
Gold & silver coin crowd sale
Makoto mooted the idea of having a crowd sale so that we can raise funds for a parallel development team to start working on epic ecosystem projects, such as mobile apps and a fast trading exchange. The fast trading exchange is for high frequency trades and is distinct from the Asset Exchange (AE) that will also be part of the NEM ecosystem. Basically what we are doing is to up the ante on our ecosystem and make it different from the rest. Some say this is Crypto 2.5 or Crypto 3.0. We do not want to claim to be one such initiative but, yes, we definitely plan be different from the rest.
As part of the fast trading exchange offerings, there shall be a link to the fiat (real world) so that people can easily enter the NEM ecosystem. There are a lot more features that will be incorporated that, hitherto, have not been implemented before in the crypto economy.
Similarly, for the mobile apps, there is a plan to make it not just a wallet on a mobile device, but a full-featured app that will blow the mind of a user. The underlining design criterion is ease of use and easy adoption for the masses. Tough, but absolutely required.
Alas, this is not so easily done without financial resources. The preliminary draft Development Contract has no provision for such development funds until after V1. That is how it was drafted out anyway and we cannot do much about it. Changing it will take a long time as we need consensus from the community. Already the logo has taken so much time to come to conclusion. Further, starting these project after V1 is too late, as this will take several months for the applications to come online.
Rockethead suggested that we do a limited edition crowd sale of 1 oz .999 Pure Silver and 1 oz .9999 Pure Gold rounds. This not only gives real and intrinsic value for participants of the crowd sale, but some privileges as well. These privileges include sneak previews of our solution release, goodies, and initiatives that we will be rolling out as we progress. If you knew all that we had planned, you wouldn’t hesitate to buy these coins.
Physical coins, with NEM cold wallets attached to them (100 NEM for silver, 1000 NEM for gold), will help create a tangible connection to NEM. Years later, when you relate your younger days of creating the new world economy to your children, you’ll be able to show them these coins and tell them that this was what started it all.
Money raised shall be used to fund the above-mentioned projects, separately, from the core NIS/NCC development.
So, we hope everyone in the community will participate so as to make NEM the number one ecosystem. Yes, NEM, Numero Uno!
