Co-Founder's Control of $200 Million in Crypto Assets Sparks Governance Debate

The NEO project's treasury, valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, has been managed through personal wallets without multi-sig protections or formal oversight. According to co-founder Da Hongfei, approximately 85% of the treasury is controlled by Erik Zhang, the project's other co-founder, with a single signature. The native NEO and GAS tokens held by Zhang are estimated to be worth between $200 million and $250 million. Da has proposed a restructuring plan, which includes 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 staying on the board, keeping the Foundation in Singapore, and conducting a formal investigation into historical asset management. The two co-founders have been publicly disputing since December, with their rivalry producing competing governance plans and an unsuccessful mediation effort. Da's proposal aims to introduce mutual disarmament, where both he and Zhang would relinquish control over the assets. However, the success of this plan depends on Zhang's cooperation, particularly in transferring single-signature token holdings to a multi-sig lock address.