NEM evolved in march 2015 as a fork-out version of the NXT, another popular blockchain-based virtual currency and payment network platform
it is operated by a Singapore-based non-profit organization called NEM.io Foundation. Following the fork, NEM.io decided to develop its own codebase for advancing NEM, to make it more scalable and faster. Thus emerged a new NEM cryptocurrency platform, which was completely different from the original NXT.