nem

NEM is a popular blockchain platform and cryptocurrency, similar to Bitcoin.

Nem is also a word in a number of languages including French (“Vietnamese spring roll”) and Portuguese (“neither/nor”), to name a couple.

NEM, the cryptocurrency and blockchain platform, was launched on March 31, 2015. Unlike other cryptocurrencies, most notably Bitcoin, NEM requires less data processing and uses less energy, keeping transaction costs low and transaction speeds fast.

NEM is said to stand for New Economy Movement. The denomination NEM currency is traded in is called XEM, and the units range from microXEM (0.000001 XEM) to milliXEM (0.001). As of April 2019, 1 XEM roughly equals $.05.

At the end of January 2019, the NEM Foundation, which manages the technology, announced it was undergoing a massive restructuring and layoffs due to debt. This prompted a selloff of XEM on the market. However, NEM remains a popular so-called altcoin, or digital cryptocurrency.

Outside of cryptocurrency, nem is a word found in many languages. In French, nem means “Vietnamese spring roll,” derived from the Vietnamese word nem for “fermented pork” or “sausage,” a key ingredient of their spring rolls. In Portuguese, nem means “neither” or “nor.” In Serbo-Croatian, nem means “mute” or “silent.”

NEM is a hot topic in the cryptocurrency world. Its January 2019 woes did not sink the NEM Foundation and its currency, as NEM technology and XEM remain popular among tech-savvy consumers.

Depending on the language, nem can mean any number of things, from “spring roll” to “silent” to “nor”…

"Valentine et Pierrick" starter pack #nem #poulet pic.twitter.com/KfMGUrmmzk

— égérie (@Valentinam_vm) November 24, 2014

Less commonly, it can be an intentional misspelling of the word “name”…

my nem is barry allen and im the fastest man alive

— Ano w (@aw_venger) May 10, 2019

More examples of NEM:

“The NEM Foundation, a community-funded nonprofit established to promote the NEM blockchain, is planning layoffs across its entire 150-person staff in the wake of severe budget cuts and ahead of an imminent restructuring, CoinDesk has learned.”
—Leigh Cuen, CoinDesk, January 2019

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.