The dispute over Neo's powers: Zhang claims control of the mainnet and exposes asset management

An internal conflict within the Neo project led co-founder Erik Zhang to publicly disclose the governance structure and the status of the foundation’s funds. The dispute with the other co-founder Da Hongfei revolves around issues of financial control and the lack of transparent reporting. Zhang announced his intention to resume full management of Neo’s mainnet, citing the need to protect the interests of NEO and GAS holders.

Details on the transparency of main assets

According to the revelations, most of the Neo Foundation’s NEO and GAS assets are publicly distributed among 21 initial node addresses and a multisig wallet. This model allows protocol-level visibility into the movements of the main funds.

The historical flow of capital shows a significant transfer: during a reorganization phase, approximately 8 million NEO/GAS tokens were transferred to multisig addresses per Da Hongfei’s requests. This transfer marked a change in the foundation’s operational management.

The internal control process and critical issues

The Neo Foundation has maintained a standardized four-step procedure for using the main funds: first, the budget proposal by NGD, then approval by Da Hongfei, followed by technical execution managed by Zhang, and finally accounting registration. This system was designed to ensure shared oversight of each significant transaction.

However, the situation becomes more complex when considering auxiliary assets. All funds other than NEO/GAS—including BTC, ETH, and ecosystem project tokens—remain under the exclusive personal control of Da Hongfei. Zhang criticized this management as a “black box,” highlighting that for years no verifiable financial reports, complete inventory of holdings, or independent audits have been provided.

Implications for decentralized governance

The divergence between the two co-founders regarding the management of the foundation’s treasury raises questions about Neo’s governance and the protection of community interests. Zhang’s claim to regain control of the mainnet represents an attempt to restore balance in the project’s decision-making structure, with the declared goal of ensuring greater accountability toward NEO/GAS asset holders.