The cryptocurrency project NEO has been managed with an unusual financial setup, where hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto assets have been controlled through personal wallets without multi-signature protection or formal oversight. According to co-founder Da Hongfei, the individual in control of these assets is Erik Zhang, the other co-founder and architect of NEO's core protocol. Da estimates that Zhang holds between $200 million and $250 million in native NEO and GAS tokens, which is 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.
Da has proposed a restructuring plan that involves redomiciling the Neo Foundation to the Cayman Islands, replacing the current two-founder governance with an independent five-member board, and redistributing tokens to holders. In contrast, Zhang's counter-proposal involves staying on the board, keeping the Foundation in Singapore, and conducting a formal investigation into historical asset management. The dispute has led to a stalemate, with both co-founders holding significant leverage over the project's assets and neither willing to compromise. Da has framed his proposal as a form of mutual disarmament, where both he and Zhang would relinquish control over the assets.
However, the success of this plan depends on Zhang's cooperation, which is uncertain. If Zhang refuses to transfer the single-signature token holdings to a multi-signature lock address, the community may need to intervene to resolve the dispute.