Co-founder's Control Over $200 Million in Crypto Assets Sparks Dispute

The NEO project's treasury, valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, has been managed through personal wallets without multi-signature protections or formal oversight. According to Da Hongfei, co-founder Erik Zhang controls around 85% of the assets 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. Zhang has countered with a proposal that would keep him on the board and the foundation in Singapore, and has called for an investigation into historical asset management. The dispute has sparked concerns among observers, who note that the project's treasury holds approximately $460 million in assets, double its market value, while the token has dropped 98% from its 2018 peak. Da has characterized 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 unclear what will happen if he refuses to transfer the single-signature token holdings to a multi-signature lock address.