NEO
Neo is a community-driven, non-profit Layer 1 blockchain platform (founded 2014, Shanghai) operating Neo N3 and the EVM-compatible Neo X sidechain. It serves blockchain developers, dApp projects, enterprises, and token holders through a dual-token (NEO/GAS) model with native smart contracts, storage, identity, and oracle infrastructure.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersShanghai, China
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What NEO does
Neo (formerly AntShares) is a community-driven, non-profit blockchain project founded in 2014 and headquartered in Shanghai, China, with a global footprint spanning Switzerland, Japan, and North America. Its core product, the Neo N3 blockchain, is an open-source Layer 1 platform featuring dBFT 2.0 delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance consensus with single-block transaction finality, a multi-language Neo Virtual Machine supporting smart contracts in C#, Go, Python, TypeScript, and Java, and a full stack of native infrastructure including NeoFS (distributed storage), NeoID (self-sovereign identity), Neo Name Service (.neo domains), and built-in oracles. Neo X, launched on MainNet in July 2024, is the project's EVM-compatible sidechain offering Ethereum interoperability, Anti-MEV protection via ZK-based distributed key generation, and cross-chain connectivity through Message Bridge and Poly Network integrations.
The platform operates on a dual-token economic model: NEO serves as the governance token (holders elect the Neo Council and receive passive GAS distribution) and GAS functions as the utility token for network transaction fees, smart contract deployment, and execution. There is no direct enterprise licensing model — network usage is monetized through GAS consumption. The Foundation and Neo Global Development (NGD) collectively manage a consolidated treasury of $460.8 million (2025 Financial Report), grown from $5.2M since 2014, funded by on-chain revenue, GAS generation, NGC Fund liquidation, and a 2025 sale of 35,000 ETH. Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, channeled through developer grants (EcoBoost, $20M Elevate), hackathons (Neo X Grind with $22M in prizes), ambassador programs (NeoPod), and partnerships with Microsoft, .NET Foundation, BSN, the University of Zurich, and OKX.
The company serves four primary customer segments: (1) blockchain developers building dApps across multiple programming languages; (2) blockchain projects and dApps leveraging Neo's infrastructure and ecosystem funding; (3) enterprises integrating blockchain for digital assets, supply chain, or identity verification; and (4) cryptocurrency exchanges and token holders participating in NEO/GAS trading and governance. The platform is currently navigating a high-profile public governance dispute between co-founders Da Hongfei and Erik Zhang over treasury control and consensus node voting power, and Da Hongfei has announced plans to step back from mainnet development effective January 1, 2026 to focus on Neo X and the SpoonOS agentic operating system sub-project.
NEO firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- NEO
- Legal name
- Neo Smart Economy / Neo
- Website
- https://neo.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Neo is a community-driven, non-profit Layer 1 blockchain platform (founded 2014, Shanghai) operating Neo N3 and the EVM-compatible Neo X sidechain. It serves blockchain developers, dApp projects, enterprises, and token holders through a dual-token (NEO/GAS) model with native smart contracts, storage, identity, and oracle infrastructure.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
NEO industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Blockchain Infrastructure Platform
- NAICS
- Securities and Commodity Exchanges (523210), Securities and Commodity Exchanges (52321)
- SIC
- Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200), Finance Services (6199)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Digital Banking & Neobank Platforms (BPAMAFAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Embedded/Platform Neobanks (Banking-as-a-Feature) (FSABAFAF)
Keywords
Where NEO is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Shanghai
- HQ country
- China
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices4 records
Markets served
NEO business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Network Transaction and Smart Contract Fees (GAS): The Neo blockchain generates revenue through GAS token fees charged for network usage including transaction fees, smart contract deployment fees, and execution fees. GAS is consumed during operations and is also distributed to NEO holders as passive income based on their holdings without requiring staking.
- Treasury Management: The Neo Foundation and NGD maintain a consolidated treasury of $460.8 million (as of 2025 Financial Report) generated through on-chain revenue, GAS token generation (43.4 million tokens), NGC Fund liquidation ($40.2 million), and cryptocurrency sales (sale of 35,000 ETH in 2025 for $100 million). Treasury growth from $5.2M in 2014 to $460.8M represents 8,862% asset growth.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Network Fee (GAS) |
| Subscription | Monthly | NEO Token Governance |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
NEO product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Neo is an open-source, community-driven blockchain platform offering a full-stack of native functionality for building decentralized applications. Its core offering is the Neo N3 blockchain (with Neo X as an EVM-compatible sidechain), which provides built-in smart contracts, oracles, decentralized storage (NeoFS), self-sovereign identity (NeoID), domain name service, and cross-chain interoperability, supported by a dual-token economic model (NEO and GAS).
Product overview
Neo is an open-source, community-driven blockchain platform formerly known as AntShares, offering a full-stack ecosystem built around its core Neo N3 blockchain. The platform provides a unique dual-token architecture with NEO for governance and GAS for utility/network fees. Neo N3 features native functionality including NeoFS (decentralized storage), NeoID (self-sovereign identity), Neo Name Service (domain resolution), Neo Oracle (off-chain data), and multi-language smart contract support (C#, Go, Python, Java, TypeScript). Neo X is the EVM-compatible sidechain extending the ecosystem with Ethereum compatibility. Supporting infrastructure includes Neo-CLI and Neo-GUI node clients, NEP-17/NEP-11 token standards, the NeoVM execution environment, and ecosystem support programs (EcoBoost, Elevate). The governance model includes the Neo Council elected by NEO token holders, with treasury managed by the Neo Foundation and NGD.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Neo X: Neo's EVM-based sidechain providing Ethereum compatibility
- Neo N3
- NeoFS
- NeoID
- Neo Name Service (NNS)
- NeoPod
- Elevate Program
Products and services
- Neo N3 Blockchain
- Neo X EVM Sidechain
- GAS Token
- NeoFS
- NeoID
- Neo Name Service (NeoNS)
- Neo Oracle
- Neo-CLI
- Neo-GUI
- SpoonOS
- NEP-17 Token Standard
- NEP-11 Token Standard
- NeoVM (NVM)
- Message Bridge
Quantifiable outcome
- Treasury growth of 8,862% from $5.2M (2014) to $460.8M (2025)
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use NEO
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
NEO technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
Feature8 records
NEO partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- DiesiscoreNeo partnered with Diesis to boost social economy blockchain use. Diesis is a network of blockchain communities supporting open-source infrastructure.
- Poly NetworkcoreNeo partnered with Poly Network to launch an interoperability protocol enabling cross-chain functionality. Poly Network is a heterogeneous blockchain interoperability protocol that enables assets to be transferred across different blockchains.
- Blockchain-based Services Network (BSN)coreNeo partnered with BSN to drive mainstream blockchain adoption. BSN is a large blockchain infrastructure operator providing standardized development environments.
- InterWork Alliance (IWA)coreNeo initiated the InterWork Alliance as one of five sponsor members. IWA is a platform-neutral, standards organization for tokenized economy frameworks.
- University of ZurichcoreNeo established a long-term partnership with the University of Zurich to jointly promote blockchain technology in Europe. The partnership focuses on research and academic collaboration.
- .NET FoundationcoreNeo became the .NET Foundation's first-ever blockchain member, demonstrating commitment to C# development ecosystem and cross-platform development tools.
- MicrosoftcoreMicrosoft has partnered with Neo on multiple initiatives including co-organizing developer competitions and hackathons, providing development environment and tools support.
- HashKey CloudcoreHashKey Cloud joined the Neo Council as a governance participant, contributing to network operations and ecosystem development.
- OKXcoreNeo partnered with OKX to launch an APAC-focused hackathon to recruit talent and foster Web3 growth in the Asia-Pacific region.
- SpoonOScoreSpoonOS launched as a Layer 1 blockchain and agentic operating system within the Neo ecosystem. SpoonOS built the first Web3-native Skills Marketplace on Neo for AI agent development.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
NEO competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Ethereum: Ethereum is the dominant smart-contract L1 platform and Neo's primary direct competitor. Both support decentralized applications and digital assets; Neo X was explicitly built to capture Ethereum-compatible workloads, confirming Ethereum as the reference competitor.
- Solana: Solana is a high-throughput L1 blockchain competing directly with Neo for dApp developers and capital. Both target performance-oriented smart contract workloads; Solana represents the throughput benchmark Neo N3's 3-second block time is positioning against.
- Avalanche: Avalanche is an EVM-compatible L1 with subnets and fast finality, directly comparable to Neo X. Both target Ethereum developers with EVM compatibility while offering differentiated consensus and interoperability features.
- Polygon: Polygon provides EVM-compatible scaling and sidechain infrastructure for Ethereum, comparable to Neo X's EVM sidechain approach. Both target Ethereum developer portability with lower fees and additional features.
- Cosmos: Cosmos is an interoperable L1 ecosystem using Tendermint consensus and IBC for cross-chain communication, directly comparable to Neo's dBFT consensus and Poly Network/Message Bridge interoperability. Both emphasize sovereignty and cross-chain functionality.
- Polkadot: Polkadot is a multi-chain L1 with parachains and cross-chain messaging, similar to Neo's interoperability focus via Poly Network and Message Bridge. Both target cross-chain asset and data transfer at the protocol level.
- Cardano: Cardano is a research-driven L1 with multi-language smart contract support (Plutus/Marlowe/Aiken), comparable to Neo's multi-language smart contracts (C#, Python, Go, TypeScript, Java). Both target developers seeking formal methods and language flexibility.
- Tezos: Tezos is an L1 emphasizing on-chain governance, formal verification, and self-amendment, comparable to Neo's Neo Council on-chain governance model. Both prioritize protocol evolution without hard forks.
- Tron: Tron is a high-throughput L1 with smart contracts and a dual-token model (TRX/energy), directly comparable to Neo's dual NEO/GAS architecture. Both focus on digital asset transfers and dApp throughput at scale.
Regional players
- Ontology: Ontology is a Chinese-origin L1 with self-sovereign identity and decentralized trust frameworks, closely comparable to Neo's NeoID and digital identity features. Both originated from Chinese blockchain ecosystems and target identity/credentials use cases.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
NEO social profiles
Digital presenceNEO financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
NEO leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
NEO funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
NEO M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments9 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about NEO
What does NEO do?
Neo is an open-source, community-driven blockchain platform offering a full-stack of native functionality for building decentralized applications. Its core offering is the Neo N3 blockchain (with Neo X as an EVM-compatible sidechain), which provides built-in smart contracts, oracles, decentralized storage (NeoFS), self-sovereign identity (NeoID), domain name service, and cross-chain interoperability, supported by a dual-token economic model (NEO and GAS).
Is NEO a public or private company?
NEO is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was NEO founded?
NEO was founded in 2014. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is NEO based?
NEO is headquartered in Shanghai, China, in the Asia region.
How does NEO make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Network Transaction and Smart Contract Fees (GAS) is the primary driver. The others are treasury Management.
Who are NEO's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, Polygon, Cosmos, Polkadot, Cardano, Tezos and Tron. Ontology is listed as a regional player.
Does NEO have an API?
Yes. Neo provides a comprehensive RPC API accessible via JSON-RPC over HTTP/HTTPS and WebSocket protocols. The API enables developers to query blockchain data (blocks, transactions, contract state, token balances via NEP-17), manage wallets, deploy and invoke smart contracts, and interact with native services (NEO, GAS, Oracle, Policy, ContractManagement, Ledger). Network byte fee is 0.00001 GAS/Byte by default. The RPC interface is provided through the RpcServer plugin on Neo-CLI. Developer documentation is at docs.neo.org.
What industry is NEO in?
NEO's product category is Blockchain Infrastructure Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAFAD, Digital Banking & Neobank Platforms, with a secondary code of FSABAFAF, Embedded/Platform Neobanks (Banking-as-a-Feature). Its NAICS code is 523210 and its SIC code is 6200.