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

For years, the NEO project's treasury was controlled through personal wallets with no multi-sig protection, a setup that would be unusual for most financial institutions. According to co-founder Da Hongfei, Erik Zhang, the project's other co-founder, has control over around 85% of the funds, which are currently worth between $200 million and $250 million. 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 involves staying on the board and keeping the Foundation in Singapore, with a focus on investigating historical asset management and addressing potential corruption. The two co-founders have been publicly airing their disputes since December, with Da dismissing Zhang's accusations of corruption and misuse of funds. The project's treasury holds around $460 million in assets, roughly double its market value, while the token has dropped 98% from its 2018 peak. Da has framed his proposal as a form of mutual disarmament, where both he and Zhang would relinquish control over the assets. However, the success of the proposal depends on Zhang's cooperation, and it remains to be seen whether he will agree to transfer the single-signature token holdings to a multi-sig lock address.