NEM FOUNDATION MARCH 2020 UPDATE
Translations
Japanese: Here.
Russian:Here.
Italian: Here.
Mandarin: Here.
Spanish: Here.
Hi community,
We want to share our heartfelt gratitude to our hard working global teams, partners, and community members during this unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. Safety of our worldwide teams remains our priority as well as ensuring uninterrupted progress toward the launch of Symbol. We’ll continue to keep you informed with updates like this and appreciate your continued support.
Migration
Progress continues and we’re happy to report the following milestones have been reached:
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Migration and Tokenomics Proposal POI voting commenced and was approved (Jan 2020). Link
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Symbol brand proposal was released to the public for vote and was approved (Jan 2020). Link.
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Symbol ticker vote commenced and was approved (Jan 2020). Link.
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Symbol Pen test & review came back in February with a list of recommendations and fixes. Both the Tech Team and Core Devs are reviewing these recommendations and working together on a revised timeframe for implementation and next steps. More information will be forthcoming on this.
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Symbol branding guidelines/ toolset was delivered and a media kit was shared with the community (here).
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Multiple server updates have been rolled out, and we are currently on version 0.9.3.2. Click here for full update.
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The public testing campaign on the HackerOne platform begins this week. For those interested in participating please sign up at https://hackerone.com.
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The mobile wallet is nearing completion and readiness for external testing (here).
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Our latest desktop wallet (v0.9.6) saw a few fixes and additions as well (here).
For more in depth and frequent updates, please follow the discussions here!
Symbol Academy Update
The Symbol Academy team has been actively developing curriculum and video production for the MVP release of Academy later this year. The pending release will include a sampling of free online courses dedicated to Symbol along with a fully functional web portal. Roughly 30% of the online videos have been developed.
Marketing Update
Foundation has been working with the Better Way branding agency on a whole host of marketing products. One major component is the new Symbol website which we hope to launch in the next few months. We are also working with Better Way to create use case materials for Symbol from NEM. A new sizzle video is in the works that will excite the community and enterprises for the launch of the Symbol platform.
Tech Team Updates
As the Tech Team continues to work through testing and product launch deliverables, we want to remind everyone to follow along with real-time updates and get direct help in NEM2 Slack. Please note: New test network and existing test network are running in parallel. You can also find the latest product updates here.
Regarding TREZOR, we have been in communication with the TREZOR team and told Symbol will not be available until after the launch of XYM due to TREZOR’s new listing criteria. We are exploring alternative options now.
NIP-8 (NEM Improvement Protocol) Update released. Added IR-8 (complete) and IR-9 (ongoing). Fixed structure and added milestone links. Please find the link here.
Japan Community Update
Symbol brand awareness continues across the globe and we’re pleased to share some of the latest community updates from Japan.
- Nemgraph Winter Photo Contest 2020. Pleased to announce the winning results from the applications received. Nemgraph has chosen the 30 best ‘Winter Photos’. You can see the winners here.
- NEM SEMINAR 2020 - Road To SYMBOL - On January 19th, 2020, a meetup about NEM titled: ‘NEM SEMINAR 2020 – ROAD TO SYMBOL’ was held at Arara Co., Ltd. in Tokyo. Please find a summary here.
- Kinki University reported the result of their POC for their lunch prepayment service.
- February 1st, 2020 - ‘Cafe Nemuriya’, a cafe and shop that accepts NEM/XEM as payment opened in Tokyo. (Links are in Japanese).
赤羽マガジン新聞（Akabane Magazine Newspaper）
- Currently, Symbol testnet is running, and onboarding new nodes every day. In Japanese, ‘nemlog’ has many articles on how to build a Symbol testnet node. Please click here for more instructions.
Global Business Development Updates
Japan
- Supporting Opening Line with their ongoing Kinki University (Kindai) blockchain POC - student created lunchtime prepayment app called MOAP (Mobile Order And Pay). アクトプロジェクト年間活動報告 | ACT EX
- Began discussions with Startup Fukuoka & Okinawa around collaboration.
- Supported NEM Ecosystem partner, AEM Technologies Pty Ltd, with their latest multi currency wallet (AEM+) in the Japanese market.
- Engaged with a local gaming platform to list XEM/XYM for payments.
- Japanese Test Node-owners information portal: Please click here.
- PR release: NEM Foundation is strengthening the team as the lead for the Japanese market ahead of the new Symbol blockchain launch. Please click here. (Japanese) or here for English.
China and Taiwan
- Having discussions with CoolWallet and also www.gciig.com.
- In conversations with the biggest crypto media and local communities in China.
- Ongoing communication with Blockshow, Fenbushi Capital, Cointelegraph, and CT Media Group around synergies between companies.
Philippines
- Engaged in the Philippines - China Investment Forum organized by PCCI., and collaborated with Beijing Royal School and Bridge International for Blockchain technology and education.
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Joined the iTrain Series for Information and Communications Technology, & Lasallian Computer Society on the topic: “Techtonic Behind the Success”, to students of De La Salle University Dasmarinas.
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Attended the Blockchain Kick off Summit 2020 organized by Block Tides and engaged with blockchain and cryptocurrency based companies in the Philippines to discuss Symbol from NEM.
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Attended and engaged in the Move with the Future event of Cebuana Lhuillier. Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Brokers, Inc. (CLIB) who will now be offering a digital one-stop insurance shop through their mobile apps.
LATAM
Colombia
- Meetup was held to show the new traceability technology of BAIOTRAZE Cannabis. NEM shared the benefits that blockchain can bring to the medical cannabis industry. Symbol was positioned as a strong blockchain solution for the entire business industry. The official launch of BAIOTRAZE is being planned for early March, and the onepager is here.
- Pedro E. Gutierrez, Council Member and CRO of the NEM.io Foundation was a speaker at the BlockchainSummitLatam event on March 12 and 13, where he spoke on a panel of new protocols and presented to the Latin American community the business applications that are suited to the the Symbol blockchain platform. He also engaged with Panama’s community of developer companies.
Chile
Bimtrazer signs MOU in Qatar
- Bimtrazer will apply artificial intelligence and Blockchain technology (Symbol from NEM) to construction control building for the FIFA World Cup 2022. As reported in Cointelegraph en Espanol (Link). The capital of Qatar (Doha) will host the twenty-second edition of the Football World Cup organised by FIFA between November 21 and December 18, 2022 (link here).
Mexico
- Signed a MOU with Mousebelt as development partners for Asia, Latin America and the United States.
- Started negotiations with Mousebelt to include NEM as their blockchain accelerator partner. Meaning NEM will have the opportunity to both select startups aligned to their core technologies and work along with Mousebelt to work on use cases based on Symbol technology.
- Held a meeting with the senator of Yucatán, Jorge Ramirez to develop an education network across southeast mexico using nem/symbol as technology.
- Signed a NDA with the government of Tlaxcala to work on an anti burglary project using Symbol as the main technology, and proposed a project to expand the above mentioned project to the national level.
- Discussed the possibility to work on a project for the national institute of migration in Mexico with the objective to optimize data management and traceability.
- Started discussions to start a node program with Northeastern Universities in Mexico.
- Gave a conference in the city of Merida in the center for businesses for people interested in blockchain solutions.
Malaysia
- National University of Malaysia (UKM) Industry Partners Appreciation High-Tea - NEM Business Development Manager, Jesyka Hiu attended this session to better understand UKM’s academia-industry collaboration plans in 2020 and seeking for potential collaborations with its partners.
- NEM Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. is now a registered blockchain technology provider under the Ministry of Human Resources Malaysia (HRDF). All eligible Malaysian companies can now attend the course and apply for training grants to upskill their employees.
Partnership Updates
- NEM partner LuxTag has completed Malaysia’s first STO - find the full story here.
- Lithuania’s central bank plans to issue a collectible coin using NEM blockchain technology in celebration of the anniversary of Lithuania’s independence (Link).
NEM Helpdesk
Need assistance with anything related to NEM (General queries, deposit/withdrawal issues, and partnerships)? Feel free to drop a message on NEM Helpdesk or email us at support@nem.help and we’ll be happy to assist you! 
Join the conversations across our social networks, such as our Telegram channels Link, our Facebook pages Link, or our Twitter feeds Link.
We look forward to more updates to come, see you next month!