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

For years, the NEO treasury was managed through an unusual setup, with hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto assets controlled by personal wallets and lacking multi-signature protections or formal oversight. According to co-founder Da Hongfei, Erik Zhang, the other co-founder and architect of NEO's core protocol, holds around 85% of the project's assets, valued between $200 million and $250 million, under his single signature. Da estimates that Zhang's holdings are worth more than NEO's current market capitalization of $197 million. The two co-founders have been publicly disputing since December, resulting in rival governance plans and an unsuccessful mediation effort in Hong Kong. Da has proposed restructuring the Neo Foundation, including replacing the current two-founder governance with an independent five-member board and redistributing tokens to holders. Zhang's counter-proposal involves staying on the board and keeping the Foundation in Singapore, as well as calling for a formal investigation into historical asset management. Da has dismissed Zhang's accusations of corruption and misuse of funds. The project's treasury holds approximately $460 million in assets, roughly double its market value, with the token having dropped 98% from its 2018 peak. The treasury is split between two halves, with the native NEO and GAS tokens under Zhang's control and the non-token assets managed by NGD, the entity run by Da. Da's proposal aims for mutual disarmament, where both he and Zhang would sacrifice their individual control over assets. However, the restructuring depends on Zhang's cooperation, and Da is uncertain if Zhang is willing to cooperate.