There was a panic dump when Patmast3r said that the official launch would be in November (later clarified that launch =/= official launch but alas it was too late).
I don't necessarily see it being a bad thing as the more weak hands which are eliminated the more presumed stability when NEM is released and that is a good thing. We may disagree with bad distribution but some of those poorly distributed coins can be stable or appreciating especially when held by whale(s) who never sell. For any coin, getting rid of the weak hands and promoting holding should be a priority especially in an early stage as many newcomers don't want to buy into a coin losing value. Everyone wants to be a winner in cryptos even though that might contradict reality.
We saw what happened in the first weeks of the asset exchange, a lot of weak hands were eager to let go of a stake worth $1000+ when they had bought it initially for $2 - $50. If there was no asset exchange, these people would had dumped at launch and then NEM would have immediate PR concerns in trying to persuade people to buy a coin that people are dumping (which is an uphill battle, by the way). It's better to get rid of the weak hands now than at some hypothetical post-launch period.
I agree with almost all of what you say apart from me saying we launch novemeber. I don't think i ever said that
Anyway there is another reason why I think all the impatience is absolute nonsense.
All you impatient folks please answer me this question - What would you do with your NEMs if you had them right now ?
Sell ? - Get a token on the AE and do it there.
Send around just for fun - Check out the alpha.
What else ?
Can you think of anything ?
Why should we launch NEM now if there is no utility yet ?
Don't get me wrong we are trying to launch as soon as possible (and we're aiming pre novemeber) but there is really no reason to rush it.
Look at NODE. They launched. Now what ? No exchange, noone accepts NODE, there is 0 people can do with their NODEs right now. I don't mean to hate on NODE but it's a perfect example of why an earlier launch doesn't necessariliy make a lot of sense.
and haven't kept up to date with all the things happening in crypto-world. 