For years, the NEO project's treasury was controlled by a single individual, with hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto assets held in personal wallets and lacking multisig protection. According to co-founder Da Hongfei, this individual is Erik Zhang, who holds around 85% of the project's tokens, worth between $200 million and $250 million. Da has proposed a restructuring plan, which includes replacing the current two-founder governance with an independent five-member board and redistributing tokens to holders.
Zhang, however, has countered with a proposal that includes a formal investigation into historical asset management and keeping the Foundation in Singapore. The two co-founders have been publicly airing their disputes since December, with Da framing his proposal as a form of mutual disarmament, where both he and Zhang would sacrifice their individual control over assets. The outcome remains uncertain, with Da committing to a one-to-three month timeline for the restructuring, but acknowledging that Zhang's cooperation is crucial.