Transparency With ProximaX + Candidates

#1

I would much prefer to ask this in private but there is so much intensity around the election that I never want to be accused of hiding anything. So I am putting this in public view and asking for clarity on this issue.

Nelson, this signed document from the official NEM Foundation Medium blog email account (that was shared by Crizan with members of the NEM Foundation social media team including myself) shows you are acting as an employee of ProximaX while also being paid as a NEM Foundation Council member.

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I have concerns because in the past few weeks, it is now apparent that you are working for ProximaX, have an interest in ProximaX’s coin, have paid memberships for your team, turned down POI, are running uncontested and have not been fully transparent while actively being paid as a NEM Council member.

I view these actions as going against the values of NEM. NEM is owned by the community, not the Foundation. If we are going to build a more transparent Foundation in the future, this would be a good place to start.

-Alex

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#2

Is there something in bylaws about conflict of interest or something like that?

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#3

Not only is it deeply concerning, that the VP candidate who’s running unopposed apparently works for proximax, which is a conflict of interest…

but I doubt rent prices for office space in Manila are just $19/month. What’s up with that?

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#4

Shit, meet fan.

This rabbit hole is going to go deeper, without any shadow of a doubt.

#5

Who would have though…

#6

What makes this so frustrating is that he’s running unopposed ffs.

#7

https://property.jll.com.ph/office-lease/metro%20manila/mandaluyong%20city/the-podium-west-tower-phl-p-001bow

This is a link to an office for rent in the same complex for 900 pesos/sqm/month.

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#8

Hi Alex, this is indeed a very good question and once and for all I can clarify things from my side. Indeed I authorized the use of my e-signature to sign that particular document. All my days being a council member for NEM had been dedicated to help NEM partners grow because I believe the growth of these partners will bring growth to NEM itself. Help is the heart of my work ethics and as much as possible I will extend hands and feet, even throw my body to give whatever I can and sometimes to the point of not thinking what the consequence could be since it is done with a clean conscience. I have nothing to hide, I can confidently say that I am not an employee of ProximaX as you claim in your post. By definition an employee is a paid person working for a company in which I am not paid by ProximaX.
ProximaX needed to setup base in the Philippines quickly as possible to ramp up their Philippine based team. Note that ProximaX is not physically occupying our space but they needed an address. Further, they have also offered a space for us in Sydney for free as a gesture of goodwill. During those days they asked for my assistance to do it since I was frequently in the Philippines arranging my upcoming wedding. I did it without second thoughts to help them speed up their things because again I am a man who is very proud of helping. All those people whom I have helped in NEM can testify to that and this post might get very long of I enumerate them one by one. I found no issues on this since ProximaX is part of the NEM ecosystem. In the same way if other NEM projects such as Luxtag, Tech Bureau or whatever company part of the NEM ecosystem we have will ask for my help and authorize me to sign a document for them to penetrate the Philippines I would gladly do it. But that doesn’t necessarily mean I am an employee for them. I am merely trying to extend my help.
To answer your claim for transparency, I did not think this was an issue to begin with because again I am not an employee for ProximaX hence I did not say a word about it. Let us say some of you do not believe this and still insist that I am an employee for ProximaX, we never made it an issue that Jeff is a CEO for Luxtag while VP for NEM and now running again for the Council. We never questioned Albert supporting Atraura when he was in council. We had no problem that Takao is also in Tech Bureau while seated as a council. It was never an issue for us that Mark Price is a CEO for Devslopes (who claimed they will release a public chain) and will run for council. Even Kimble has his Am Blockchain. To add on we also did not raise any question when Laura announced her candidacy while her daughter launches kidlet coin which by the way I believe is really cool and would love to extend my help to make their project a success (I hope Laura can give me a chance to be of help). These companies are valuable to NEM ecosystem growth hence I personally will extend my help to them if they give me the opportunity to do so. It was never an issue with the council for a member to be part of another business cause we have bills to pay, by the way for transparency I only earn 2000USD full time a month as a council member, I have been a bitcoin holder since 2013 and I can say I have stashed more than enough so even I earn a very little amount as a council I do not need to have another source of income or be employed. Nevertheless, we understand that some of the council or possible council members in the future may need to have another form of income too so it was never an issue. The bylaw never states that the council or exco should not be involved in another company, because the very criterion of it is that council members come from the industry to help develop the cause. They serve only for the time being and it would be unfair for them to be serving for 2 years and then walk back into the real world without any job or investment after helping out NEM grow.

If you really are for unity and transparency then I believe it is also fair that you will call out a transparency post to other candidates and their involvement on other projects. Perhaps revealing your salary for NEM too and your accomplishments will be a good start to showcase your capability and transparency.
Let us call for real unity and stop trying to destroy each other, I believe we are all smart enough to know which of our actions can bring a bad image to others. With the height of emotions in the community sometimes logic and reason doesn’t reach the mind of a person whose ears and eyes are closed. Whatever the outcome of this election, I will still act and help the way I used to and help NEM grow the way I have been doing since day 1. Thanks and have a blessed day.

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#9

All regional budgets should be open to community along with burn rate and metrics. I’ll share NA strategy and budget when final budgets are approved. Did you disclose you are working on behalf of ProximaX to the Council? Your name is on the contract as ProximaX representative. This is why I’m concerned. Also when I asked you outright if you work for ProximaX you said no. I believe ProximaX has a place in NEM’s ecosystem… just not at the cost of NEM.

There has been uncomfortable silence in the forums and Telegram regarding serious issues around paid memberships, POI, ProximaX. Why not just come forward and help shed light? This would have eliminated so much anxiety and concern.

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#10

Note: I edited my original post now that it has been established this was used as mailing address. That being said, from the outside looking in there are important questions that need to be answered around governance, process, expectations, and roles. Nels, anyone who knows you knows you’ve given your heart and soul to NEM. You’ve helped shaped NEM in meaningful ways. This is why it’s been hard for me and some of the other community to understand recent actions made by you in particular. No one is questioning your contributions. It’s the recent actions around discounting POI, prepaying memberships, etc combined with silence that has made this situation confusing.

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#11

@n3lz0n how did you vote on using POI for the elections?

It’s been rumored you voted against it, please explain …

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#12

Nelson only makes excuses.
He is an eloquence when excuse.

Other questions are silent.

#14

We are sick of your excuse.
You have many suspicions of corruption.
You should not run for the election this time.

Let’s POI vote whether Nelson may run for the election this time.

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#16

Please Don’t change the subject.

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#18

OK.Question.
Do you plan to connect LoyalCoin to ProximaX?
Do you have a lot of XPX?

I am worried about various things.

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#19

HI Emmerson,
With all respect, Who is asking about the salaries here? This discussion is not about our salaries . That’s not the point.
All community were asked to register and pay 50$=500XEM. I get it that that amount of money could be much more to some people but there is choice to pay it or not. Some people made the decision to pay by themselves that 500XEM, but others looks like they couldn’t afford or refused to pay. Community was upset because they prefer POI, as one of the NEM uniques features. To vote with POI you need 10.000 XEM much more than 500XEM.
That’s all the facts. Everybody can have an opinion of this and don’t be harassed.
What’ts not clear and now is where transparency is coming is if some members get paid 500XEM to register from the elections. . I want to believe that those people who get paid accounts are ADULT enought to take their own decisions and vote a candidate that represent the interest of the WHOLE NF.
On the other side, imagine if Rodrigo Duterte or Pedro Sanchez (Spain PM) start to go to the houses in Manila or Madrid and give some money before elections to the people. I can tell you what will happen.
So even if there is good intention, you can’t expect that everyone is happy with that. Specially when the REAL participation is so low. I would prefer had 150 members who decided by themselves to pay and vote rather than the actual option.

Issue number 2. Proxima X is using NEM somehow, not only mosaic but in the future could move completely to NEM private catapult) It doesn’t matter. We have different companies using private nem. The market is going in that directions. Even if Proxima X is super success next years and overtake XEM in the marketcap, What can I say? Congrats and take your profit. The issue here is if NF employees are working directly for proximaX and getting paid by NF.
I dont see any problem If NF and ProximaX and Loyalcoin paid me 3 salaries for work for the 3 of them. But of course if NF is paying me for work for ProximaX, then I can see a problem here. So what the community is asking for transparency is about this. Not salaries. Just clarify for who are NF are working and who are paying us.
Saying that and I want to share Im working only for NF and getting pay by NF. Because my salary is in XEM and Im not trading, I put a % of my salary in some NEM ICOS (Loyalcoin, PundiX, ProximaX).
If I get elected as a council I can disclose my investments just in case and apart from vote if there is conflict of interest in that particular decision.
Nelson was right that with Takao and Albert with Atraura and TB. Nobody was upset because of that.
In conclusion. We can’t be advocates of the Blockchain and transparency and then act doing the opposite. If we the candidates are not transparent and trust each others its going to be very difficult manage NF next 2 years.

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#21

Thank you for your answer.
I will refer to it.

#22

What’s this???
Are you using an educational projet which 10 years old girl started for your excuse???

What???

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#23

Hmm. I still am having difficulty understanding why Nelson had to sign on behalf of ProximaX and not a regular ProximaX employee. Is it because they needed a local Filipino resident and there were none from ProximaX side available? Is it really faster? I am not accusing anyone of anything but am trying to understand the business process/ logic behind this decision.

The ProximaX office is a symbolic one/ needed an address. Was this for their operations in the Philippines?

One point I think is fair is we do need a declaration from all people running on what their other commitments/ involvements are. Not just NEM projects but also blockchain or even blockchain unrelated projects. I would think this is for the sake of transparency but also so we know if they will be on NEM fulltime/ or what kind of connections they would be attached with.

@Inside_NEM we are all looking forward to seeing the budgets/ metrics!

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#24

Curious, why are you concerned with my specific salary? Do you know it? Only the Council knows global salaries as they are the ones that approve all salaries. :thinking: Salaries range by region and experience. What does this have to do with the topic at hand? I do think all regional budgets and finances should be transparent but discussing my own salary in a forum chat is not something I’ll be participating in for obvious reasons. Burn rate and quarterly budgets should be tracked by region and through metrics but not by line item in a public forum. Thanks for clarifying the above item. It was good to hear your perspective as well as Nelson’s.

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