NymVPN in July 2024

Alpha testers: Thank you!

First of all, Nym wants to extend our gratitude to all the users who joined our alpha tests and provided invaluable feedback on NymVPN. Your continuous input is helping Nym optimize a product that will soon be able to provide unparalleled privacy to millions worldwide. Nym is looking forward to continuing a tight knit collaboration with the community as the product and network develop.

So far, about 10,000 users on the waitlist have been invited to redeem credentials, and many more will be invited in the first weeks of August. If you’ve got the app up and running, please keep using it whenever possible – the more data flows through the network, the more bugs we can unearth.

General update

In July, we focused developing the NymVPN app with three main objectives in mind:

1. Enhance the reliability and clarity of the user experience
2. Dramatically improve the app’s speed and connection, reducing latency, and making it snappy
3. Lay the groundwork for our beta launch (end of summer 2024) and the coming paid version of NymVPN (autumn)

Here’s a breakdown of the key developments with NymVPN, the network, and company last month.

First security audit

As user privacy, security, and trust in NymVPN are of utmost importance to us, we hired a reputable cybersecurity firm with extensive experience in testing VPN services to conduct a thorough security audit and penetration test on our apps and infrastructure.

Not all VPN providers perform security audits, and those that do do not always make the results public. As a project committed to transparency, our report will be made public once the main findings have been addressed by our dev team.

Please remember that NymVPN is still an experimental product, so do not rely on it for strong anonymity just yet! But with the full launch of NymVPN, you will soon have the anonymity you need.

New Head of Marketing

This month Nym welcomed Robinson Jardin to the team as its new Head of Marketing. Before joining Nym, Rob spent four years at NordVPN as the Head of Digital & Social Media, which he helped scale to over 14 million users. Rob will play a crucial role in building Nym’s marketing team and launching NymVPN to the world.

Privacy through a mixnet, remember, needs real scale. The more users and traffic passing through the network, the more anonymity users have.

Apps update

New Windows and macOS apps

The dev team completed the migration of NymVPN apps for Windows and macOS to a new architecture to enhance user experience, app reliability, and security. The primary visible benefit for end users is the ability to launch these apps without needing privileged access (such as Windows Administrator or sudo commands).

Network modes and locations clarified

Based on feedback from our alpha testers, we’ve updated the home screen for all apps and added explanations about the mode and server locations. New users can now click the info. button to understand more about what how private traffic with each mode is, how they differ, and the best use cases of each.

Community-led localization in 10 languages

Our vibrant community is actively localizing the NymVPN experience into multiple languages, expanding NymVPN's reach into new geographies and among less technical audiences. The localized versions are now live on our Android, Linux, and Windows apps. Localization for our iOS/macOS apps and website is coming soon.

By default, NymVPN follows the device's language settings, but users can manually select their preferred language via the Settings > Language menu.

In addition to English, NymVPN is now available in Chinese, French, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, and Ukrainian. You too can contribute! Get started here.

Improved apps install and onboarding process

The Nym team has also refined our installation process to provide a fresher and more professional look. Next to updated icons and installer look and feel, our iOS users can now import their credentials using the embedded QR scanner.

The Nym network

NymVPN is powered by a global network of independent service providers, rather than a centralized server architecture. And this community of privacy-enthusiasts is growing every day so that the world can have the privacy it needs at scale.

Improved explorer

For those closely following the growth of the Nym network, check out the new and improved explorer tool. A key update is that the number and performance of mixnodes are now included in addition to gateways.

Geographical footprint

NymVPN is now offering VPN gateways in 30+ locations across 6 continents, and mixnodes in 88 countries. The availability of entry and exit locations may vary slightly.

If you’d like NymVPN to offer entry or exit in additional locations valuable to you, get in touch! Or learn how to set up a node yourself and contribute to the growing online privacy revolution. You can even gain rewards for your work through the Nym Delegations Program.

Technical update

We are diligently working to release a fast and low-latency VPN mode for NymVPN, based on the state-of-the-art WireGuard VPN protocol. While this mode involves some privacy tradeoffs compared to our signature “anonymous” (5-hop mixnet) mode, it will allow users to comfortably browse, stream, and share files. This will offer NymVPN end users an experience on par with traditional VPN services and prepare NymVPN for the transition to a paid version.

Website update

With our checkout flow built, we are integrating with Payment Service Providers and putting the final touches on the account management interface, which will allow NymVPN users to manage their subscriptions, download payment receipts, and view devices linked to their account.

What’s coming

Alongside addressing findings from the security audit completed in July 2024, our top priority is to finalize, refine, and release our "fast" mode (WireGuard-based 2-hop VPN).

Once the NymVPN experience matches that of traditional VPNs, we will transition to paid subscriptions, allowing us to reward node operators and support Nym's future product developments. Initially, payments will be available via debit cards, with plans to quickly offer cryptocurrency options, including NYM.

We will also continuously monitor security, reliability, and connectivity to enhance user privacy.

To stay updated on our progress, remember to check our public roadmap.