Neo co‑founder Da Hongfei has proposed a major restructuring of the Neo Foundation after a long stalemate with co‑founder Erik Zhang left one of crypto’s oldest networks effectively stalled.
The move follows Neo’s first public financial disclosure since 2019, which showed roughly $461 million in assets held across the Neo Foundation (NF) and Neo Global Development (NGD) at the end of 2025. Hongfei’s plan seeks to replace informal, founder‑driven governance and is pitched as a potential model for how legacy blockchains should handle large treasuries and step back from founder control.
Zhang has publicly opposed key aspects of the proposal, highlighting divisions at the top of the project and drawing closer scrutiny from users and investors. Hongfei says the restructuring is intended to break the “trust me” approach to treasury and custody that arose during Neo’s first decade.
Key elements of the proposal include redomiciling the foundation to the Cayman Islands, creating a five‑member board plus an independent Supervisor with authority to block bylaw breaches, and imposing a 24‑month ban preventing either founder from serving on the board or supervisory body.
Returning NEO tokens to the community is central to the plan. The disclosure shows NF and NGD currently control about 41 million NEO (31.3%), much of it under single‑signature control. Hongfei’s “Giveback II” would return 49.5 million reserved NEO to the community, consolidate NGD‑managed investments into the foundation, and introduce stricter financial controls: mandatory annual reports, onchain attestations for large transfers, and fully disclosed multisignature wallets for BTC, ETH, stablecoins and other liquid assets.
Hongfei points to Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin’s “influence‑through‑research” model as an example founders should emulate rather than retaining concentrated control. Zhang counters that the proposal roots Neo’s legitimacy in off‑chain legal structures, still allows for opaque third‑party attestations rather than directly verifiable onchain addresses, and that excluding him from governance for 24 months would remove vital technical oversight. He describes the Cayman reset as largely cosmetic that doesn’t resolve past accountability or transparency gaps.
The Neo struggle reflects broader governance tensions in decentralized finance, where disputes over founder influence and insider advantages have surfaced repeatedly. Long‑running fights like the Aave Chan Initiative controversy and recent criticism of World Liberty Financial’s token unlock and discretionary treasury control show how contentious governance and perceived privileged access can be across projects.
Beyond governance, the overhaul is part of a push to revive Neo’s relevance amid a market that has consolidated around Ethereum, a few layer‑2s, Solana and other chains. Hongfei acknowledged Neo’s current user base is diminished compared with the 2017–2021 cycle, noting long‑term holder concentration, a shrunken Chinese market after Beijing’s bans, and missed momentum from delays to the N3 upgrade.
Hongfei now argues the next wave of onchain activity will be driven less by humans and more by autonomous AI agents transacting on users’ behalf. He positions Neo X as an “agent‑first” blockchain optimized for that shift. He says the real test of both the governance reboot and the AI thesis will be whether Neo completes the restructuring and attracts a meaningful pipeline of agent‑native projects within the next 12–24 months — and whether he would seek a board seat if those milestones are not met.
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