The Swiss startup Nym Technologies, which is building a mixnet-based privacy-preserving mesh over the blockchain, closed a Series A funding round of $13 million with a valuation of $270 million. It was led by a16z.
“Nym’s latest round signals the growing interest in privacy preserving technologies, no longer a niche avail of the paranoid and the criminal.
And the world at large is paying attention.”#Nym#NextGenPrivacyForbes reports:https://t.co/lGpFrB6WJX
— Nym (@nymproject) November 17, 2021
Funding was also provided by Digital Currency Group’s Barry Silbert, Tayssir Capital, Huobi Ventures, HashKey, Fenbushi Capital, as well as a number of unnamed node operators responsible for validating transactions on the startup’s network.
Nym is a decentralized, open-source public privacy system. The network’s nodes, which developers call the mixnet, “mix” user traffic, excluding metadata disclosure. For this they receive rewards in the native NYM tokens.
If necessary, nodes can inject dummy data packets so that third parties have difficulty decoding the information. According to Nym’s CEO, Harry Halpin, such a ‘network-level privacy’ approach, as opposed to VPNs or the Tor network, could defeat even mass government surveillance.
According to Forbes, the latest round signals growing interest in privacy-preserving technologies that are no longer the preserve of paranoids and criminals. The world has taken notice.
“Encryption today is becoming an incredibly important component of the Internet. Nym provides privacy at the most basic level as a foundation for other private solutions,” said Ali Yahya, a16z general partner.
Halpin recommends using the Tor network, but is convinced that Nym is better suited for Bitcoin and layer-two solutions. He expects that in the long term the technology developed by the startup will be integrated with Lightning Network.
It is expected that the Nym network, comprising around 5,000 nodes and 30 validators, will launch mainnet by year-end.
Previously the team released a wallet for node operators. With it, operators can stake tokens to join the network, earn reputation and NYM depending on the volume and quality of traffic mixing.
Earlier in August, WikiLeaks informant Chelsea Manning joined Nym as a security consultant.
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