For years, NEO's treasury has been managed through an unconventional setup, with hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto assets controlled by personal wallets lacking multi-signature protections and formal oversight. According to co-founder Da Hongfei, this control rests with Erik Zhang, the project's other co-founder and core protocol architect. Da estimates that Zhang alone controls around 85% of the assets with a single signature, valued between $200 million and $250 million.
This amount surpasses NEO's current market capitalization of $197 million. The dispute between the founders has led to the creation of rival governance plans and an unsuccessful mediation attempt in Hong Kong. Da has proposed restructuring the Neo Foundation, including relocating it from Singapore to the Cayman Islands, establishing an independent five-member board, and barring both founders from the board for 24 months. In contrast, Zhang's proposal involves staying on the board and keeping the foundation in Singapore, with a focus on investigating historical asset management for potential corruption and improper transfers.
Da has dismissed these accusations, stating there is no evidence of corruption or misuse of funds. Observers note that NEO's treasury holds approximately $460 million in assets, double the project's market value, while the token has dropped 98% from its 2018 peak. The treasury is split between native NEO and GAS tokens controlled by Zhang and other assets managed by NGD, the entity run by Da.
Da's proposal aims for mutual disarmament, where both he and Zhang would relinquish individual control over assets. However, the success of this plan depends on Zhang's cooperation, particularly in transferring single-signature token holdings to a multi-signature lock address.