A Single Individual Controls $200 Million in Project Crypto, Sparking Calls for Reform

For years, the project's treasury was managed through an unconventional setup, 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 core protocol architect. Da estimates that Zhang alone controls around 85% of the project's crypto 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 two co-founders have been publicly airing their disputes since December, resulting in rival governance plans and an unsuccessful mediation effort. Da has proposed a restructuring plan, which includes relocating the project's foundation to the Cayman Islands, establishing an independent five-member board, and redistributing approximately 26 million NEO and 40 million GAS 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 these allegations, stating that there is no evidence of corruption or misuse of funds. However, some observers have raised concerns about the project's treasury, which holds around $460 million in assets, roughly double its market value, while the token has dropped 98% from its 2018 peak. The project's treasury is split between two halves, with the native NEO and GAS tokens controlled by Zhang and the non-token assets, including bitcoin, ether, and stablecoins, managed by NGD, the entity run by Da. Da has framed his proposal as a mutual disarmament, where both he and Zhang would relinquish control over the assets. The success of this proposal depends on Zhang's cooperation, and Da has committed to a one-to-three month timeline for its implementation.