Once a veteran public chain, it also cannot escape turmoil. The most ironic thing is that just as top domestic AI projects Manus, Kimi, and Minimax are continuously announcing billion-dollar acquisitions or hundreds of millions in funding, the NEO public chain, founded in 2014, has instead fallen into internal conflict among its founders.

Co-founders Zhang Zhengwen and Da Hongfei have been continuously clashing on social media platforms, seemingly over power struggles, but in reality, it is a deep questioning of the foundation's operational transparency.

Shortly after Zhang Zhengwen officially returned to NEO in September this year, he encountered problems. When he tried to obtain detailed financial reports and fund flow information from the foundation, he was obstructed. He then publicly accused the foundation of long-term opaque operations, describing its financial situation as a "black box." Even more heartbreaking, he revealed that Da Hongfei has sole control over all foundation assets except for NEO/GAS tokens, and there is even a lack of a complete, auditable disclosure mechanism.

Insiders revealed that the real reason Zhang Zhengwen left NEO previously has also come to light—Da Hongfei privately told him that their joint responsibility was too inefficient, which became a hidden cause of the later conflicts. The current rift may have been inevitable all along.