What is NEO?
NEO is one of the most exciting cryptocurrency in the market. Since its December 2014 launch, NEO has become the largest cryptocurrency in China, and the 7th largest in terms of global market capitalization. By the end of 2017, NEO closed the year trading at the $73 level. As of the time of writing, NEO is now trading at the $116 level.
Aside from being a strong cryptocurrency, NEO has lots of potential regarding its technology and practical application.
How does it compare with Ethereum?
Ethereum and NEO differ in many ways, but there are two very major differences between them.
OBJECTIVES
ETHEREUM: Ethereum aims to be a platform for Decentralized Applications (DApp). By being the market leader in the DApp market, Ethereum is able to use the blockchain as a way to improve the internet’s design. Through DApps, users and providers are able to connect directly, without having a central point of weakness. Ethereum’s move to utilize the blockchain is a response to current trends and demands.
NEO: On the other hand, NEO aims to develop a product for the digital future. While utilizing many of Ethereum’s innovations and technology, NEO ultimately works on a future platform for an innovative smart economy. As Ethereum responds to current demands, NEO anticipates future demands.
PROTOCOL
ETHEREUM: Ethereum uses the Proof of Work (POW) protocol, which is the same protocol as Bitcoin’s. Using POW, computers involved on the network competitively solve complex mathematical formulas in order to have the right to confirm transactions in the network and receive rewards. This makes the entire system decentralized.
NEO: Neo, on the other hand, uses the Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance (dBFT) protocol. Basically, this protocol works by addressing the issue of how to have everyone on the network work together with all honesty. Instead of having all NEO holders participate on transactions’ validation process, NEO token holders get to vote for bookkeepers who maintain the network for everyone. Though the idea of blockchain innovations is decentralization, NEO’s protocols are not as decentralized, which makes it more compliant to government regulations.
What’s next for NEO?
On the short term, NEO is currently undergoing recovery from its major dip last February 6. After diving to the $66 level, NEO is slowly recovering to as high as $141 last February 20. However, as Bitcoin made another price correction, most cryptocurrencies are also took a hit, which brought NEO down to current price of $125.
On the long term, NEO appears to be bullish, especially with more innovations coming into play. With NEO’s sights centered on the future smart economy, it seeks to respond to a demand that is not even there yet. Once the demand arises, NEO will have already been there. With more innovations and improvements, we can only expect NEO to reach even higher price points in the coming years. NEO creator, Da Hongfei, states, “We want to be the place people go to when they want to do serious and reliable transactions.”
