The treasury of the NEO project has been managed in an unconventional manner, with hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto assets controlled by personal wallets lacking multi-sig protection and formal oversight. According to co-founder Da Hongfei, the individual controlling these assets is Erik Zhang, the project's other co-founder and core protocol architect. Da estimates that Zhang holds approximately 85% of the assets, valued between $200 million and $250 million, with single signature control and no transfer to multi-sig.
The native NEO and GAS tokens held by Zhang are currently worth more than the project's $197 million market capitalization. The two co-founders have been publicly disputing their differences since December, resulting in rival governance plans and an unsuccessful mediation attempt in Hong Kong.
Da has proposed a restructuring plan that involves redomiciling the Neo Foundation to the Cayman Islands, replacing the current governance with an independent 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 each co-founder holding significant leverage over the other. Da views 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 remains uncertain.
If Zhang refuses to transfer the single-signature token holdings to a multi-sig lock address, the community may need to intervene to resolve the dispute.