Nimiq Proof of Stake is Now Live!

Transparency Report 2023

New report for the period following July 2022

16 Aug 2023

by Team Nimiq

7 min

In line with the last report, we would like to present an updated overview of the assets and use of funds for the Nimiq project, as well as updated details of the distribution of NIM tokens and the circulating supply. The period covered since the last report is August 1, 2022 through July 31, 2023. The report indicates a steady burn-rate as well as a smaller than expected decrease in net assets due to mildly favorable crypto market value developments and diversification.

Assets and use of funds

Assets

The Nimiq Project continues to hold a variety of liquid and non-liquid assets. The 9.9% stake in German TEN31 (WEG) Bank AG was revalued based on recent divestments of the bank from the crypto sector. Similarly the real estate holdings were updated based on current market value estimates. As of publication of the report the Nimiq Project had the following assets:

  • 176.1 BTC ~ US$ 5.16 Mio
  • 1’405.4 ETH ~ US$ 2.59 Mio
  • 403.0 Mio NIM (besides genesis NIM) ~ US$ 0.36 Mio
  • EUR, USD & USDC ~ US$ 1.35 Mio
  • Stake in TEN31 (WEG) Bank ~ US$ 2.50 Mio (reassessed)
  • Real Estate ~ US$ 2.20 Mio (reassessed)
  • Loan to ImpactX Foundation: ~ US$ 33.8K
  • Reserves (see "Use of funds") ~ US$ (-0.36 Mio)

Total Net Assets: ~US$ 13.76 Mio

Use of funds

The use of funds from the end of July 2022 up to the end of July 2023 breaks down as follows:

Product Development Contracting, Compensations: This includes all research, design, implementation and maintenance work regarding the Nimiq protocol on its way to switching from Proof-of-work to Proof-of-stake, the Open Asset Swap Interaction Scheme (OASIS), Cryptopayment Link, Crypto Map, the Nimiq Pay App and related apps and systems. The report indicates stable contracting expenses and team size. Going forward a reasonable increase may be incurred due to continued growth of the team and inflation adjusted compensations. An additional amount of ~US$ 260K continues to be reserved and due pending achievement of development goals (release of Proof of Stake for Nimiq, etc).

  • ~US$ 1’666.7K (fiat + crypto equivalent at time of expense)
  • ~52.9% of total (~61.6% of non-extraordinary)

Marketing, Content, Community: This includes expenses related to creating and distributing educational video and written content, branding and sponsorships, swag production, user and consumer surveys, community rewards and campaigns, social media management and industry conference expenses. It also includes the membership contribution to the Blockchain for Europe organization and supporting the European “Kryptostadt” and Latin American “Criptociudad” ( translate into “Cryptocity”) efforts that aid NIM adoption. In addition, this covers community programs such as the Bug Bounty Program and the Community Project Funding with a reserve of US$ 50K for the next 12 months. An amount of US$ 50K is reserved and due pending listing related pre-staking provisions.

  • ~US$ 383.3K (fiat + crypto equivalent at time of expense)
  • ~12.2% of total (~14.2% of non-extraordinary)

Legal, Administration, Taxes: This includes legal, tax and administrative expenses regarding corporate maintenance, contract review, accounting, professional support from Lara Legal Corp, Annerton and additional task specific international legal counsel i.e. for pursuing required licenses, trademarking, terms of services, privacy policies, legal memorandums, etc.

  • ~US$ 136.9K (fiat + crypto equivalent at time of expense)
  • ~4.3% of total (~5.1% of non-extraordinary)

Digital Operations, Equipment: This includes expenses related to hosting, hardware, software, licensing, communications, domains, and other development tools and platforms. 

  • ~US$ 144.3K (fiat + crypto equivalent at time of expense)
  • ~4.6% of total (~5.3% of non-extraordinary)

Travel, F&B: This includes expenses related to transportation, hotel, food/beverage, and team building. 

  • ~US$ 193.8K (fiat + crypto equivalent at time of expense)
  • ~6.2% of total (~7.2% of non-extraordinary)

Physical Operations, Rent: This includes expenses related to workspace, hackathon accommodation, and maintenance.

  • ~US$ 182.3K (fiat + crypto equivalent at time of expense)
  • ~5.8% of total (~6.7% of non-extraordinary)

Extraordinary: This includes fees for listing integration efforts and continued setup of the technology and infrastructure as a service for Nimiq OASIS.

  • ~US$ 441.5K (fiat + crypto equivalent at time of expense)
  • ~14.0% of total

Total Use of Funds: ~US$ 3’148.8K (2’707.3K non-extraordinary)

The monthly burn-rate average comes in at ~US$ 230K (excluding extraordinary expenses) and as such matches the level of the previous reporting period. While total expenses related to Product Development Contracting, Compensations have held steady, they recently increased due to the hiring of additional highly qualified contributors, including core, frontend and business developers, which should reasonably reflect in next year's report. However given these new engagements, the long-standing team has reached a quality and capacity such that no further hires are anticipated at this time. Marketing, Community, Content expenses were lower than the prior reporting period, which is mostly attributable to the holding pattern the project is in as it gets closer to releasing the Proof-of-Stake upgrade and a rerelease of OASIS with new payment service partners. With the increased support of open efforts such as the European “Kryptostadt” and Latin American “Criptociudad”, as well as creating awareness around Cryptopayment Link, all of which encourage the adoption of NIM, BTC and USDC in the payment acceptance and crypto holding process, we expect a reasonable increase in this expense category going forward. Expenses related to Legal, Administration, Taxes, and Physical Operations, Rent are holding steady. The relative increase in Digital Operations, Equipment is attributable to domain acquisitions and equipment replacement. The relative increase in Travel, F&B is attributable to higher prices for travel and an increase in international event and hackathon attendance.

NIM supply and distribution

This second part describes the distribution of NIM tokens, showing details of accounts and vesting contracts as well as the circulating and total supply as of the end of July.

Quick view

Live summary of NIM supply: http://nim.sh/stats/supply.txt

The total final NIM supply over ~100 years by design of the Nimiq Blockchain Proof-of-Work protocol (see Nimiq Whitepaper 1.0): 21'000'000'000 NIM. The circulating supply as of the end of July was ~11’001’300’000 NIM (~52.4% of final total).

Details

NIM activated from Token Sale NET (5% of final total): As of the end of July 2022, 861’049’052 NIM have been activated from NET and are part of the circulating supply. The remaining difference (~188’950’948 NIM) that has not been activated from NET is visible at account addresses NQ69 9A4A MB83 HXDQ 4J46 BH5R 4JFF QMA9 C3GN, NQ15 MLJN 23YB 8FBM 61TN 7LYG 2212 LVBG 4V19 and NQ17 YTX4 X5U6 5BUX HN5J V6VV 260V 9UP1 D39S. Though the deadline for activating NIM has long passed, Nimiq is processing requests on a case by case, manual basis (applying the same conditions of KYC/AML). Being conservative, Nimiq considers them part of the circulating supply. All other NIM are either acquired through mining or released through a vesting contract as further described below (all vesting durations are measured from April 14 2018).

NIM minable (88% of final total): 18'480'000'000 NIM over ~100 years since April 2018. As of the end of July: ~8’957’000’000 NIM (~42.7% of final total) are part of the circulating supply. The live amount mined to date is available here: http://nim.sh/stats/supply/mined/nim.txt

Nimiq Foundation (Project, 2.5% of final total): 525'000'000 NIM at vesting contract address NQ09 VF5Y 1PKV MRM4 5LE1 55KV P6R2 GXYJ XYQF. Vesting is 26'250'000 NIM every 6 months over 10 years. First vesting was in October 2018, as of the end of July, 262’500’000 NIM (1.25% of final total) are available and part of the circulating supply. These funds have not been touched to date.

ImpactX Foundation (Charity, 2% of final total): 420'000'000 NIM at vesting contract address NQ19 YG54 46TX EHGQ D2R2 V8XA JX84 UFG0 S0MC. Vesting is 21'000'000 NIM every 6 months over 10 years. First vesting was in October 2018, as of the end of July, 210’000’000 NIM (1.25% of final total) are available and part of the circulating supply. These funds have not been touched to date. In June 2021 a US$ 33’780 (1 BTC) donation was made to the charity: water’s bitcoin trust with an interest-rate-free loan from Nimiq to the ImpactX Foundation.

Nimiq Team & Early Contributors (2.5% of final total): 525'000'000 NIM at 82 vesting contract addresses, see https://pastebin.com/raw/1eDwDF45. Vesting schedule A (for creators) was 35'000'000 NIM every 6 months over 3 years and vesting schedule B was 157'500'000 NIM month 3 and month 6 (team, early contributors and future team member allocation).

Recommended Block Explorer for Account and Contract Addresses: https://nimiq.watch

Disclaimer

None of the statements must be viewed as an endorsement or recommendation for Nimiq, any cryptocurrency, or investment product. Neither the information, nor any opinion contained herein constitutes a solicitation or offer by the creators or participants to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments or provide any investment advice or service. All statements contained in statements made in Nimiq’s web pages, blogs, social media, press releases, or in any place accessible by the public, and oral statements that may be made by Nimiq or project associates that are not statements of historical fact, constitute “forward-looking statements”. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual future results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expected, expressed, or implied by such forward-looking statements. The final decision of implementing any changes to the Nimiq protocol, including its parameters, always remains with the decentralized node operators who agree what version and parameters to deploy and support.