A Single Individual Holds the Keys to $200 Million in Crypto Assets, Sparking Calls for Governance Reform

For years, the treasury of the NEO project has been managed in an unconventional manner, with hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto assets controlled through personal wallets, lacking multi-sig protections and formal oversight. According to co-founder Da Hongfei, the individual in control of these assets is Erik Zhang, the project's other co-founder and core protocol architect. Da estimates that Zhang holds between $200 million and $250 million in NEO and GAS tokens, exceeding the project's current market capitalization of $197 million. The two co-founders have been publicly airing their disputes since December, resulting in rival governance plans and an unsuccessful mediation effort in Hong Kong. Da's proposal, published on GitHub, calls for the Neo Foundation to be redomiciled in the Cayman Islands, the establishment of an independent five-member board, and the redistribution of approximately 26 million NEO and 40 million GAS tokens to tokenholders. In contrast, Zhang's counter-proposal suggests maintaining the current governance structure and conducting a formal investigation into historical asset management. Da has dismissed these allegations, stating that there is no evidence of corruption or 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 single-signature control and the non-token assets, including bitcoin, ether, and stablecoins, managed by NGD, the entity run by Da. Da's proposal is framed as a mutual disarmament, where both he and Zhang would relinquish their individual control over the assets. However, the success of this proposal depends on Zhang's cooperation, and Da has stated that if Zhang refuses, the community should decide the next course of action.