A Co-Founder Holds the Keys to $200 Million in Crypto, Sparking a Governance Debate

The NEO project's treasury, valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, has been managed through personal wallets with limited oversight. According to co-founder Da Hongfei, approximately 85% of the funds are controlled by Erik Zhang, the project's other co-founder, with single-signature authority. The native NEO and GAS tokens held by Zhang are estimated to be worth between $200 million and $250 million, exceeding the project's current market capitalization of $197 million. Da has proposed a restructuring plan, which includes relocating the Neo Foundation to the Cayman Islands, establishing an independent five-member board, and redistributing tokens to holders. In contrast, Zhang's proposal involves remaining on the board and conducting a formal investigation into historical asset management. The dispute between the co-founders has sparked a debate about governance and the future of the project. Da's plan requires Zhang's cooperation to transfer the single-signature token holdings to a multi-signature lock address, and the outcome remains uncertain.