NEM
XEM
Evaluation Score
Overall rating on a scale of 0-10
Dimension Breakdown
AI Analysis
Comprehensive evaluation of the token
XEM (NEM) is a legacy, deprecated Layer-1 asset that was superseded following the launch of Symbol (XYM) and its March 2021 1:1 airdrop migration. Active Development and Community Support both received scores of -1.0 due to data gaps caused by the complete cessation of development, governance, and official community operations on the legacy NIS1 chain; these weights were redistributed proportionally across the remaining categories. The tokenomics and market utility are defunct, evidenced by near-zero transactional activity, an unrecovered >99% price collapse, and widespread hostile delistings across major exchanges, including OKX (August 2022), Binance (June 2024), and Upbit (July 2025). Historically, the project was severely impaired by the January 2018 Coincheck hack (~523M XEM stolen, ~$530M value) and the NEM Foundation's near-insolvency crisis in January 2019. With all development and community resources migrated to Symbol, XEM presents an abandoned profile with zero viable investment thesis.
Development Activity
Code updates and developer engagement
Community Support
Social media presence and community engagement
Tokenomics
Supply, distribution, and utility
Market & Use Case
Value proposition and competitive landscape
Team & Governance
Team background and project governance
Security & Audits
Security history and audit status
About NEM (XEM)
NEM (XEM) is a deprecated legacy token that migrated to Symbol (XYM) following the Symbol mainnet launch and a 1:1 airdrop in March 2021. Originally launched in March 2015 on the NIS1 blockchain, NEM utilized a Proof-of-Importance consensus mechanism and featured a fixed genesis supply of 8,999,999,999 tokens with zero ongoing inflation. Within the original NIS1 architecture, XEM served as the native unit of account for network transaction fees, requiring participants to vest tokens to engage in harvesting or operate network supernodes.
Following the transition to Symbol in 2021, core development, governance, and community infrastructure were decommissioned or redirected away from the NIS1 blockchain. Consequently, transactional activity and liquidity on the legacy chain dropped to near-zero levels. This abandoned status led to unilateral delistings from major centralized exchanges, including removals by OKX in August 2022, Binance in June 2024, and Upbit in July 2025, as the token experienced an unrecovered drawdown of more than 99% from its all-time high of $2.09.
Throughout its operational history, the project was destabilized by major security, organizational, and regulatory challenges. In January 2018, an attack on Japanese exchange Coincheck compromised private keys to steal roughly 523 million XEM (valued at approximately $530 million), triggering industry-wide regulatory actions by Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA), illicit OTC laundering, and subsequent law enforcement arrests. In January 2019, the NEM Foundation disclosed severe structural accountability issues and high operational burn rates that brought the organization to near-insolvency, permanently impairing the legacy ecosystem prior to the migration to Symbol.