The control of hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto assets has been a point of contention for the NEO project, with co-founder Erik Zhang holding the keys to approximately $200 million in crypto. According to Da Hongfei, the other co-founder, Zhang has sole control over around 85% of the project's native tokens, with no multisig protections in place. This unusual setup has raised concerns about the lack of formal oversight and the potential risks associated with it. The native NEO and GAS tokens held by Zhang are currently valued between $200 million and $250 million, exceeding the project's current market capitalization of $197 million.
The two co-founders have been at odds over the project's governance and have proposed competing plans. Da's plan involves redomiciling the Neo Foundation to the Cayman Islands, establishing an independent five-member board, and redistributing tokens to holders. In contrast, Zhang's plan calls for an investigation into historical asset management and the potential for corruption, as well as his continued involvement on the board. The dispute between the co-founders has sparked a heated debate about the project's governance and the need for a more robust and secure system.
With the project's treasury holding approximately $460 million in assets, the issue of governance and control has become increasingly pressing. Da has framed his proposal as a form of mutual disarmament, where both he and Zhang would relinquish control over the project's assets. However, the success of this plan depends on Zhang's cooperation, and it remains to be seen whether he will agree to transfer the single-signature token holdings to a multisig lock address.