Co-founder Holds Keys to $200 Million in Crypto, Sparking Governance Debate

The NEO project's treasury has been managed in an unconventional manner, with hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto assets controlled through personal wallets and lacking multisig protections and formal oversight. According to co-founder Da Hongfei, Erik Zhang, the project's other co-founder and core protocol architect, has sole control over around 85% of the assets, valued between $200 million and $250 million. Da estimates that the native NEO and GAS tokens held by Zhang are worth more than the project's current market capitalization of $197 million. The two co-founders have been publicly disputing since December, resulting in rival governance plans and an unsuccessful mediation attempt in Hong Kong. Da has proposed a restructuring plan that involves redomiciling the Neo Foundation to the Cayman Islands, establishing an independent five-member board, and redistributing tokens to holders. In contrast, Zhang's counter-proposal suggests maintaining the current governance structure and conducting a formal investigation into historical asset management. Da has dismissed Zhang's accusations of corruption and misuse of funds, characterizing them as 'blunt and empty.' The project's treasury holds approximately $460 million in assets, twice its market value, while the token has dropped 98% from its 2018 peak. The treasury is split between two halves: the native NEO and GAS tokens controlled by Zhang, and the non-token assets managed by NGD, the entity run by Da. Da's proposal aims to achieve mutual disarmament by transferring control of the assets to a multisig lock address, but its success depends on Zhang's cooperation. If Zhang refuses, Da believes the community should decide the next course of action.