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

For years, the NEO treasury has been held in a single setup, with hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto assets controlled through personal wallets and no multi-sig protections. According to co-founder Da Hongfei, this person is Erik Zhang, who holds around 85% of the assets with single signature control. 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 governance with an independent board, and redistributing tokens to holders. Zhang's counter-proposal involves staying on the board and keeping the foundation in Singapore, as well as a formal investigation into asset management. The two co-founders have been publicly disputing since December, with Da framing his proposal as a form of mutual disarmament, where both he and Zhang would sacrifice individual control over assets.