Co-Founder Holds Keys to $200 Million in Project Funds, Sparking Governance Dispute

The NEO project's treasury has been managed in an unconventional manner, with hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto assets controlled by personal wallets lacking multi-signature protections and formal oversight. According to co-founder Da Hongfei, the individual in control of these assets is Erik Zhang, the project's other co-founder and architect of its core protocol. Da estimates that Zhang alone controls around 85% of the assets, valued between $200 million and $250 million, using a single signature. This amount exceeds the project's current market capitalization of $197 million. The dispute between the co-founders has led to the creation of rival governance plans, with Da proposing the establishment of an independent five-member board, the redistribution of tokens to holders, and the relocation of the Neo Foundation from Singapore to the Cayman Islands. In contrast, Zhang's proposal involves remaining on the board, keeping the foundation in Singapore, and conducting a formal investigation into historical asset management to address potential corruption and improper asset transfers. Da has dismissed these accusations, stating that there has been no corruption or misuse of funds. Observers have noted that the project's treasury holds approximately $460 million in assets, roughly double its market value, while the token has dropped 98% from its 2018 peak. The treasury is split between two halves, with the native NEO and GAS tokens under Zhang's single-signature control and the non-token assets, including bitcoin, ether, and stablecoins, managed by NGD, the entity run by Da. Da's proposal aims to achieve mutual disarmament by transferring the single-signature token holdings to a multi-signature lock address, which would require Zhang's cooperation. If Zhang refuses, Da believes the community should decide the next course of action.