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

The NEO project's treasury, valued at hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto assets, has been managed through personal wallets with no multisig protection, according to co-founder Da Hongfei. He claims that Erik Zhang, the project's other co-founder, controls around 85% of the funds with a single signature. The native NEO and GAS tokens held by Zhang are currently worth between $200 million and $250 million. Da has proposed a restructuring plan that includes redomiciling the Neo Foundation to the Cayman Islands, replacing the current two-founder governance with an independent five-member board, and redistributing tokens to holders. Zhang has countered with a proposal that includes a formal investigation into historical asset management and provisions to address potential corruption. The two co-founders have been airing their disputes publicly since December, with Da dismissing Zhang's accusations of corruption as 'blunt and empty.' 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 'mutual disarmament,' where both he and Zhang would sacrifice their individual control over assets. However, the restructuring plan's success depends on Zhang's cooperation, and it remains uncertain whether he will agree to transfer the single-signature token holdings to a multisig lock address.