For several years, the treasury of NEO, a cryptocurrency project, has been managed in an unconventional manner, with hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto assets controlled through personal wallets, lacking multi-signature protections and formal oversight. According to co-founder Da Hongfei, this responsibility falls on the shoulders of Erik Zhang, the project's other co-founder and the architect of its core protocol.
Da estimates that around 85% of the assets are controlled by Zhang alone, with a single signature, and have never been transferred to a multi-signature setup or any individual. The native NEO and GAS tokens held by Zhang are currently valued between $200 million and $250 million, surpassing the project's market capitalization of $197 million.
The two co-founders have been publicly airing their disputes since December, resulting in competing governance proposals and an unsuccessful mediation attempt in Hong Kong. Da has proposed a restructuring plan that involves relocating the Neo Foundation from Singapore to the Cayman Islands, establishing an independent five-member board, and preventing both founders from serving on the board for 24 months.
Additionally, Da's plan includes redistributing approximately 26 million NEO and 40 million GAS tokens to token holders. In response, Zhang has put forth a counter-proposal that involves staying on the board and keeping the Foundation in Singapore. Zhang's proposal also calls for a formal investigation into historical asset management, addressing potential corruption, improper asset transfers, and concealment of public assets. Da has dismissed these accusations, stating that there is no corruption or misuse of funds.
However, some observers note that the numbers are striking, with NEO's treasury holding approximately $460 million in assets, double the project's market value, while the token has dropped 98% from its peak in 2018. The project's financial report for FY2025 revealed over 1,100 BTC, more than $100 million in stablecoins and cash, and a portfolio of venture investments, including an unliquidated stake in Binance.
Da has divided the treasury into two parts, with the native NEO and GAS tokens under Zhang's single-signature control, and the second part, comprising bitcoin, ether, stablecoins, fund-of-fund investments, and bank balances, managed by NGD, the entity run by Da. The non-token assets have grown to over $200 million, driven largely by the appreciation of BTC and ETH holdings accumulated through early-stage investment returns. This has resulted in a treasury split almost evenly between two individuals who are no longer communicating productively, each holding leverage over the other and unwilling to make the first move. Da has framed his proposal as a form of mutual disarmament, where both he and Zhang would sacrifice their individual control over assets.
He expressed willingness to cooperate but is uncertain if Zhang will do the same. The success of Da's restructuring plan depends entirely on Zhang's cooperation, particularly in transferring the single-signature token holdings to a multi-signature lock address. If Zhang refuses, Da believes the community should decide the course of action.