What is NEM?

The New Economy Movement (NEM), an ecosystem with a dual-layer blockchain, moves even closer to DeFi with the debut of its business blockchain solution Symbol.

What is NEM?

NEM is a double-layer blockchain that enables various ledgers on its cryptocurrency tiers. It is built in Java. The NEM ecosystem is designed to link and transfer any sort of digital asset across private and public blockchains. A collaborative development attitude compelled NEM to abandon the POS consensus in favor of the POI. NEM is the world's first POI (Proof-of-Importance) consensus practitioner. Although it is similar to Proof-of-Stake in that it needs the locking of certain sums of coins in the ecosystem, there are numerous significant distinctions.

The major distinction between the POS and POI consensus is that under the POS consensus, the quantity of coins staked does count, but a staker assigning 10% of the staked amount will be allowed to mine just 10% of the network's blocks. The POI consensus is used to decide which network users are qualified to add blocks to the blockchain; in the NEM ecosystem, contributing blocks to the blockchain is referred to as "harvesting."

In POS, the more coins staked, the better the return and reputation; however, in the POI system, three important variables establish the node's reputation: vesting (holding of 10,000 XEM in the wallet), transaction partners, and number of transactions within 30 days.

What’s the Symbol of NEM?

Symbol is a NEM project that is mostly focused on Enterprise. Symbol is a hybrid blockchain, which implies that it is not completely accessible by everybody but retains blockchain characteristics like as transparency, security, and solidity. The hybrid blockchain is completely customisable, with blockchain nodes deciding which transactions should be verified, who may participate in the blockchain, and which transactions should be published.

The interoperability of public and private chains seems to allow for cost-effective, seamless data movement between these two chains, eliminating the need of third-party bridges in the interconnection of public and private chain protocols. Symbol, like other blockchains produced today, is interoperable, which means that there are no middlemen required for data transmission and token exchanges between any blockchain and Symbol.

According to NEM, the debut of Symbol's mainnet is expected on March 15, following a four-year development period. The project will pre-launch the Opt-in and snapshot phase on March 12 at a block height of 3,105,500.

The Opt-in implies that each NEM proprietary token – XEM holder will be able to get Symbol proprietary token – XYM upon the mainnet's debut. That is, at the block height of 3,105,500, the system will read all wallets that participated in the Opt-in and allot XYM to the Symbol account established during the Opt-in, which is the same as the balance of one's XEM wallet. In other words, according to the announcement on NEM's official website, keep your XEM in your NEM wallet (note: the wallet must be updated to the latest version), apply for Opt-in, create a Symbol account, and for every 1 XEM in your balance, you will receive 1 XYM, while your XEM balance will remain intact.

What effect will it have on XEM?

The Symbol is an exciting concept that has already partnered with several prominent names in the business. The XYM token is already listed on Poloniex, Bitpanda, Gateio, and other exchanges, and listing on Binance, Huobi, Kucoin, and 17 more exchanges is on the agenda. Some exchanges, including Binance, Kucoin, and the freshly released Coinex, will enable wallet snapshots for XYM allocation.

While there is a lot of enthusiasm around this airdrop, the XEM price seems to be quiet and waiting for an alarm to go off. While the cryptocurrency market is now on an upswing, with Bitcoin gaining about 4% today alone, according to statistics from the cryptocurrency trading site Overbit,

The XEM/USD pair is as low as a leopard before a leap.

XEM/USD is now in a corrective 5-wave ABCDE pattern, which has produced a symmetrical triangle, according to technical chart analysis. According to the technical analysis, chart pattern, and MACD indicator, XEM/USD will most likely break the top edge of the triangle and move higher. The resistance levels to keep an eye on are $0.7530 and $0.8000. Closing below the bottom boundary might result in a decrease to $0.6100 or $0.6000.

It is important to remember that in most instances, the listing of new coins and airdrops resulted in significant sell-offs among token investors. In the case of NEM and Symbol, this may not be the case, or the so-called "dump" may not be as severe as it was during the ICO bubble.

The first reason is that, although many may contemplate becoming network participants in NEM's growing ecosystem, the broader crypto market attitude remains strong, and tokens of cross-chain networks such as Polkadot are among the top investment options. Enterprises are adopting blockchain and incorporating blockchain into their current network because it is enticing. Chainlink, whose token LINK is associated with the project, is another example of a project that enabled organizations to connect their external data to blockchain. Polkadot's DOT is a high-performing coin that is still valued by long-term investors.

As crypto-adoption grows, more establishments are accepting cryptocurrencies as payment, and initiatives like Symbol will aid in connecting crypto and blockchain to the IoT we've become used to.