Nym Technologies Raises $2.5 Million to Anonymize Crypto Apps

This startup is betting tokens can help incentivize privacy infrastructure across the internet.

AccessTimeIconMay 13, 2019 at 9:00 p.m. UTC
Updated May 9, 2023 at 3:03 a.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

A privacy-centric startup has turned to a private token sale to raise $2.5 million.

The seed round in Nym Technologies involved NEO Global Capital, Lemniscap, Edenblock and others. Binance Labs, where Nym completed a 10-week incubation program late last year, is also an investor.

  • Navigating Crypto: The Ongoing Struggle between Privacy, Transparency, and Enforcement
    00:55
    Navigating Crypto: The Ongoing Struggle between Privacy, Transparency, and Enforcement
  • Exploring the Intersection Between Privacy, Transparency and Law Enforcement
    05:12
    Exploring the Intersection Between Privacy, Transparency and Law Enforcement
  • Crypto’s Biggest Concerns in 2023
    05:16
    Crypto’s Biggest Concerns in 2023
  • ConsenSys to Update MetaMask Crypto Wallet After Privacy Backlash
    06:07
    ConsenSys to Update MetaMask Crypto Wallet After Privacy Backlash
  • “Token sales are not dead,” Lemniscap managing partner Roderik van der Graaf told CoinDesk. “We still believe there are such things as properly designed crypto networks with tokens.”

    Nym Technologies CEO Harry Halpin told CoinDesk the company plans to launch a testnet by 2020. He declined to specify which blockchain the startup's native token is based on in the meantime.

    "The primary thesis is that we can incentivize privacy-enhancing features," Halpin said of his startup's token-centric approach. "If I run a VPN [today] I can get paid but then I have to hold all the financial data of my users."

    Nym wants to “anonymize the world,” Halpin has said, with software that can be applied to crypto wallets and other mobile apps to mask IP addresses and user data from the network itself. Bitcoin veteran Amir Taaki is already working on integrating this capability with his Dark Wallet project.

    “We’re building the protocols and other people will provision the infrastructure,” Halpin said. “We believe our system should allow users to pay as they want, using fair prices for whatever services people want to provide.”

    The token economics of the platform are still under development, however, according to Nym investor Lasse Clausen of 1kx.

    “On a basic level there will be a staking token,” Clausen told CoinDesk.

    Halpin told CoinDesk the token will mainly be used for fees, to reward node operators and staking for service providers.

    “In my opinion, the tokens will of course be important,” he said. “Their importance comes from their utility due to their ability to help other tokens improve their privacy.”

    So far, according to Edenblock partner Lior Messika, NYM tokens are basically vouchers for future use of privacy-enhanced services, such as sending a certain number of messages within a messaging service or using a certain capacity of data through a VPN service.

    Web3 Foundation director Ryan Zurrer told CoinDesk that the broader industry sorely needs authentication software that isn’t controlled by centralized entities.

    Nym’s infrastructure solutions could address that demand by helping product and service providers avoid collecting user data, a vision that coincides with the cypherpunk ethos.

    Indeed, after Facebook acquired the blockchain startup Chainspace, Chainspace founder Dave Hrycyszyn joined Nym Technologies instead.

    “Here’s a privacy project, that’s what I like,” Hrycyszyn told CoinDesk.

    Speaking to the broader point of protecting user privacy, van der Graaf added:

    “[Nym’s] protocol doesn’t only anonymize at the protocol layer but also the network layer. So that is a major difference compared to something like Tor. They even mix the data packets at the network layer therefore anonymizing metadata such as IP addresses, geolocations, etc. It’s really one step ahead of the solutions that are out there at the moment.”

    Image of the Nym Technologies team – Including (left to right) Harry Halpin, Ania Piotrowska, Jedrzej Stuczynski, Jonathan King and Dave Hrycyszyn – courtesy of the company

    Disclosure

    Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


    Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.