Da Hongfei Responds to Zhang Zheng's Accusations: Distorting Facts, Only Telling Half the Truth

**NEO Co-Founders Clash Over Governance; Zhang Calls for Da’s Resignation, Da Responds** On January 26, NEO founder Da Hongfei pushed back against co-founder Erik Zhang’s accusations, dismissing them as “distortions of facts.” Da clarified a critical point: Zhang had claimed Da proposed a mechanism requiring “every transaction and all expenses [to be] approved by me” — but Da said this was false. Instead, he stated his plan: *“Starting this year, NF and NGD will release financial reports in the first quarter of each year, increasing transparency with more details than past reports.”* Da also noted he had already authorized Zhang (and other community members) to post news and blogs on neo.org, and privately offered to let Zhang manage Neo’s X (Twitter) account to build followers for his new initiatives. He accused Zhang of using “half-truth” tactics and suggested future conversations be recorded for clarity. Regarding financial matters, Da said he proposed (and Zhang agreed to) a $1 million transaction between the NF Treasury (managed by Zhang) and NGD, executed at spot price. The goal, he explained, was to boost NGD’s stake (aligning interests) and provide Zhang with operational funds for Neo mainnet development. Da emphasized he only sought “limited cooperation,” adding both shared a common goal: Neo’s growth and revival. *“Collaborate where we agree, go independent where we differ — that’s the only way out of Neo’s governance deadlock in recent years,”* he said, urging Zhang not to distort his words. Earlier, Zhang (Zhang Zhengwen) posted: *“Just met with NEO founder Da Hongfei. He proposed ‘limited cooperation’ but offered no substantive details on key issues. I clearly laid out three minimum demands: 1) Establish an effective, verifiable financial oversight mechanism; 2) Abandon the EON project (a direct NEO competitor); 3) Authorize me to post via the official website and X account. All three were explicitly rejected. Given Neo’s continued decline under his leadership over the past few years, I hereby formally call for Da Hongfei to resign from his leadership role in the NEO ecosystem.”*