Log in to your personal account
Sign up
Please fill in all the fields carefully
registration form. A registration notification will be sent to the e-mail address you specified.
If you want to use Telegram @username, click Login and enter your Telegram @username in the login field
Attention! Password must consist of 8 or more characters, uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as numbers
Password recovery
Enter the e-mail address specified during registration
You send
You send
Go back

NEO. History of one cryptocurrency

2019-12-24

NEO is a controversial project that combines cutting edge technology with a privacy ban. The platform attracts criticism from the crypto community, but maintains a leading position in the ratings of cryptocurrencies.

About the project

The creators of the NEO project conceived it as a "smart economy" that includes digital identity and business process automation. When choosing a development path, the developers decided to follow in the footsteps of Ethereum, complementing and developing its structure. For the use of the technology of this digital currency, NEO in narrow circles is called "Chinese Ethereum".

The project is based on three components:

platform for developing smart contracts;
platform for transferring any type of cryptocurrency and digital assets without intermediaries;
a platform for digital confirmation of a physical asset or user.
The first mentions of the NEO cryptocurrency date back to 2014. It was created as part of the Antshares project, and only three years later received its final name. The attraction of initial investments in the idea took place in early July 2017. During the ICO period, the developers set a small price for 1 coin, it did not exceed $ 0.036.

The developers managed to collect 100 million tokens, half of which they invested in crowdfunding. The remaining 50 million were left under the control of the creators of NEO. The funds that the creators of the cryptocurrency left for the regulation of the platforms board were frozen for at least 3.5 months. In mid-October 2017, coins became available for any transactions.

The NEO project is built on three actors who play a decisive role in its promotion:

Da Hongfei. He is the CEO of the company. He got carried away with the technological features of bitcoin in 2011, after which he planned to launch his own currency. Prior to opening the company, he was the director of a large company IntPass Consulting.
Eric Jean. He holds the position of technical director. His areas of expertise are blockchain technology and computer security. Eric also acted as an information systems auditor. His contribution to the development of NEO is to create a unique algorithm for reaching consensus.
Tony Tao. Combines the positions of General Secretary and Vice President of the Strategic Planning Department at Onchain. Prior to joining NEO, Tony proved himself to be the creator of the X-Order system, which is also related to the blockchain.


Opportunities

When creating the Neo cryptocurrency, the team members were united to launch a full-fledged ecosystem. It could provide reliable transfer of digital assets between network participants. The "natural" function of Neo is a cross-chain transaction. Ethereum overtakes Neo in the ranking of platforms that enable dApps and ICO launches.

Today, developers continue to work on launching a decentralized application that would work correctly in the Neo environment. The company does not hide its pro-government orientation. Previously, Neo was developed with and for the state. Therefore, the project deliberately abandoned such an important component as the confidentiality of participants.

Other development vectors that cryptocurrency creators are working on include:

Algorithm for reaching consensus. In 2019, Neo supports the Proof-of-work algorithm, but in the near future it will be replaced by Proof-of-stake. The point of the transition is to make transactions cheaper and faster. Consensus making is based on the dBFT algorithm.
Data processing speed. The network takes 1000 TPS to process transactions, while Ethereum (for comparison) has a speed of only 15 TPS. The developers plan to increase the speed indicators tenfold.
Lack of parallel branches. Neo has overcome one of Ethereums most significant shortcomings - parallel branches. The proliferation of such branches threatens the security and reliability of user data. The dBFT technology made it possible to eliminate this possibility completely.
Token specialization. The Neo system provides for two types of tokens - NEO and GAS. NEO is the main asset, and GAS exists in the form of fees that are paid on coin transfers.
Programming language. Today, Neo developers rely on six languages to create smart contracts and do not plan to stop there. Ethereum provides only one language for contracts, which was developed specifically for this platform.
Optimization of smart contracts. Neo pays special attention to improving the characteristics of a smart contract before its launch. The only drawback of this solution is the slowdown in contract execution.

How is created

A distinctive feature of the Neo cryptocurrency is its centralization. Blocks are created by 7 nodes, most of which belong to the Neo Foundation. The other two nodes are owned by its partners. At the end of 2018, executives shared their vision for further decentralization:

By the end of 2019, five nodes owned by the company will be replaced by nodes from other companies that have proven their reliability. New operators will be selected by voting.
If the vote is successful, the developers will continue to increase the number of nodes using similar methods. Despite its effectiveness, the proposed option still did not suit the crypto community.
The Neo cryptocurrency is based on the tokens of the same name, which have the status of the main asset of the platform. The NEO coin has several characteristics:

It is used by users to participate in voting.
It is a "tool" for obtaining NeoGas tokens, which are intended for smart contracts.
Not subject to further division. The minimum calculation unit is 1 NEO.
To get NeoGas, the platform user must have at least 2000 NEO. With such a balance, the number of NeoGas tokens will increase by one every day. If the account increases to 20,000 NEO, then NeoGas will be accrued tenfold (10 NeoGas per day).

The positive side of centralization is the ability to create one of the most secure vaults. NeoFS distributed storage involves splitting large files into fixed segments. After separation, each part is sent to a separate unit. The main problem of storage is the lack of balance between the high requirements for the storage method and their practical necessity. Developers are expected to increase the flexibility of the approaches that NeoFS uses.

The developers paid special attention to the creation of protection mechanisms that will prevent attacks from quantum computers with the latest chips. The defense mechanism is called NeoQS. This degree of protection was ahead of its time and is irrelevant at the time of 2019. Technologies that use open source RSA and ECC algorithms do not face quantum threats. But in the near future, these developments will show their effectiveness.

Is Neo endless?

All Neo coins that are in circulation were created using premine. There is no information on new "shipments" of coins. This rule does not apply to NeoGas. Its emission is carried out using mining in the Proof-of-stake format. The generation of new blocks is accompanied by new GAS coins. Today the system has 100 million GAS.

Neo strengths

The Neo project is recognized as one of the most serious "newcomers" in the field of digital currency. The advantages of this platform include the following:

Originality of the concept. When creating Neo, they thought extremely broadly: they took not the payment mechanism as a starting point, but an independent ecosystem. The crypto space knows no other experiments to create a "smart economy".
Application of the latest technologies. The unique solutions offered by the developers include a digital identification system, cross-chain environment and prevention of quantum hacks.
Reasonableness of passive earnings. When a user of the platform accumulates a fixed amount of NEO tokens, GAS tokens are automatically credited to his account. The accrued amount is proportional to the accumulated NEO tokens.
Technology availability. Neo is based on common programming languages. The choice towards popular languages is explained by the desire to attract the creators of the project to a wide group of developers who can write smart contracts on their own.
Fast execution of transactions. Today Neo ranks among the most "high speed" systems, along with Tron and Eos. This indicator favorably distinguishes Neo from large projects like Bitcoin or Ethereum.
Antiquantum protection system. The creation of the NeoQS profile protocol makes it possible to protect platform data from computers with a 49-qubit quantum chip.
The project also has problems. Neo weak points include the following:

Lack of decentralization. The company does not hide from users the monopoly on nodes to which it adheres. The creators plan to expand the number of nodes and add new owners, but these actions will not change the structure itself.
Control of participants actions. The second factor is users lack of privacy rights. Before using the network, a person undergoes full identification using documents.
Transaction speed limits. The time spent on transferring coins has its own limits. Neo limit is 10,000 transactions per second. With the development of technology, this parameter may change.
Lack of micropayments. The impossibility of transfers to small amounts is explained by the indivisibility of the token. The minimum amount for a transaction is 1 NEO.


NEO in TOP currencies

At the end of 2019, NEO is ranked 18th in the cryptocurrency ranking provided by CoinMarketCap. Compared to the beginning of the same year, it dropped by two positions. The downgrade coincided with an increase in value. At the end of November 1 NEO can be purchased for $ 9.43. Capitalization is $ 665,011,724.

The highest value of Neo was recorded in 2018, when the coin was purchased for $ 196.85. Today the coin price has dropped more than 20 times. But such a decline affected all currencies due to a decrease in user interest.

The digital currency Neo is represented on all major crypto exchanges. You can exchange coins for other types of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and fiat currencies. To store coins, the developers have provided three options for wallets:

NEON-Wallet;
NEO-CLI;
NEO-GUI.
All links to these wallets are located on the official website of the company. Some miners store currencies on exchanges, but this decision comes with high risks. Also, exchanges do not assume automatic GAS accrual.

An indicator of the demand for Neo is a large number of large partners. The three organizations that have entered into an agreement include:

Alibaba. The company invests its funds in a cryptocurrency project, has an agreement on the use of specific tools for the blockchain.
Microsoft China. Like Alibaba, Microsoft is an investor in Neo.
AdEx. The platform is designed for posting ads. Her contribution to the development of Neo lies in the application of smart contracts based on platform technologies.
Due to the lack of confidentiality, not only private companies, but also states are interested in the Neo project. There are rumors that Russia is planning to join cooperation with the platform.