neo crypto

What is Neo (NEO)? – A Beginner’s Guide to Neo

NEO, formerly known as AntShares (ANS), is a blockchain platform that enables users to build decentralized solutions on its platform. Creating a blockchain network is quite a hectic task and everyone doesn’t have enough resources to build a blockchain platform from scratch.

Therefore, second-generation blockchain platforms like Ethereum, Neo, and Cardano are providing everyone the opportunity to create blockchain solutions with minimum resources.

What is Neo (NEO)?

Neo is a decentralized platform where developers can build smart contracts and decentralized applications (dapps) with the help of standard programming languages. Neo is often referred to as Ethereum of China because it shares numerous development tools with Ethereum.

But many researchers claim that Neo has the potential to become a more popular dapp development platform because it supports standard programming languages like Java and C#.

Neo introduces a number of unique features:

NeoVM – NeoVM is a fast and versatile virtual machine that executes certain instructions after proper interpretation. It can also be used to transfer smart contracts to other platforms if needed.

Neo Contract – This function smoothly runs smart contracts with the help of the call tree.

NeoX – This feature connects the Neo to other blockchain networks safely.

Dual Token System – As it’s mentioned above, Neo has two native tokens (NEO and GAS) that are used to run several operations within the network.

Neo QS – This feature protects the blockchain from serious external threats.

NeoFS – This protocol incorporates a distributed hash table (DHT) to store information about the number of digital assets, digital identity, and more.

Digital Identity – Neo users can access digital assets by registering their digital identity. The digital identity is normally used to access two types of digital assets including global assets and contract assets.

The global assets are easily accessible to smart contract users. The contract assets are only accessible to qualified users because they store information in a private storage system.

Developer Friendly – Developers can build smart contracts using Jave, C++, C#, and other standard programming languages. Thus, it can facilitate a vast majority of people who are interested in building blockchain-based applications.

Neo Vs. Ethereum

Ethereum is the most popular dapp development platform as it’s been around for a long time. However, new entrants like Neo are getting more attention with their advanced features.

Ethereum users can only build smart contracts in solidity while NEO users can use standard programming languages for this purpose. Thus, Neo has an edge over Ethereum because the developers won’t have to learn a new language to access its features.

Neo has two native tokens called NEO and GAS. The NEO token provides governance power to the holders whereas the GAS token is used for smart contracts.

NEO can process around 1,000-5,000 transactions per second while Ethereum processes around 13-15 transactions per second. It still has a long way to go because Visa, the traditional payment system, has the capacity to process 45,000 transactions per second. However, Neo offers better transaction speed than other crypto projects.

The gas fee on Ethereum increases depending on the number of transactions queued. Neo, on the other hand, doesn’t have any transaction fee because it uses a unique combination of Proof-of-Stake and Byzantine Fault Tolerance.

Neo Brief History

Neo was launched by Da Hongfei and Erik Zhang in 2014. It was initially introduced as Antshares (ANS) and was rebranded to NEO in June 2017. The team raised around 6,000 BTC by selling ANS tokens during Initial Coin Offering in 2014.

ANS token holders were given the opportunity to convert their ANS tokens to NEO after rebranding. The team again raised around $8 million by selling NEO tokens in 2016. 50 percent of the total supply was held in the company’s reserves so that it can be used for future development.

The NEO token holders were given voting rights in March 2018 to participate in the network’s governance.

How Does NEO Work?

Neo uses a Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance protocol for verifying transactions. Neo token holders cast their votes to choose the node operators who can verify transactions. The users need to hold a hefty amount of GAS tokens if they want to appear as a candidate.

The network participants have the authority to disqualify a node operator if they aren’t happy with his/her work. Therefore, the node operators need to have a healthy internet connection to verify transactions as soon as possible.

The blockchain randomly selects the node operator for verifying the transactions. The node operator sends information to the other users after the verification. If 66% of the users are satisfied with the transaction, a new block is added to the blockchain; otherwise, the network selects another member for verifying the transaction.

Neo Tokenomics

NEO is the primary token of this blockchain network that gives voting rights to its participants. Only 50% of the Neo tokens were sold at the time of its launch and the remaining 50% were held for future development. With a circulating supply of 70 million tokens, NEO has a market cap of $772 million.

The remaining 30 million tokens will be released over the years depending on the network’s needs.

GAS is the second token of this blockchain network that is used for smart contracts. The node operators receive GAS tokens as a reward when they verify a transaction. Around 8 GAS tokens are produced whenever a new block is generated.

Conclusion

NEO is a second-generation blockchain network that can host smart contracts, decentralized apps, and other programs on its platform. It’s commonly known as Ethereum-killer because it shares most development tools with Ethereum and supports multiple programming languages. If you need more information about how Neo works, feel free to reach out to us.

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