A plethora of new altcoins have crowded the crypto market since 2017. The exponential increase in the number and variety of crypto tokens results from the ever-increasing demand for crypto assets with wider applications, additional capabilities, better technology, and consensus mechanisms. Currently, there are 9,000 cryptocurrencies in the market as of March 2021, and their total dominance over the crypto market accounts for up to 40%, as reported by CoinMarketCap in March 2021.
One such altcoin that is taking over the world is the NEO coin, which came into existence in 2017 when AntShares underwent rebranding. It utilizes smart contracts technology, thereby being recognized as the Chinese Ethereum.
What Is Neo (NEO)?
Da Hongfei launched the coin that started as AntShares in 2014. Then, a rebranding imparted a new identity of Neo to it in June 2017. Neo is more than just an altcoin. It is known for its robust consensus mechanism and blockchain-based platform, which allows developers to create smart contracts. Smart contracts have more real-time applications because of their ability to auto-execute without any third-party involvement. Besides this, developers can also build DApps with the help of Neo’s blockchain technology. This open-source blockchain platform also enables developers to build blocks for the next-gen internet and offers a full stack of innovative features. Poly.Network of Neo allows cross-chain interoperability with Binance Chain, Ethereum, and many more.
Working of Neo
Neo is based on the Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerant (bDFT) consensus, which in simple terms is an upgraded Proof-of-Stake (PoS) protocol. The NEO coin is indivisible and instead utilizes another token called neoGAS for transaction purposes. Thus, the Neo network works with two types of tokens. Neo can be coded with the help of traditional programming languages like C++, C#, Go, Python, and JAVA, and many more.
NEO tokens have all been pre-mined during its genesis, and its maximum supply limit is capped at 100 million coins. Further, these tokens are reserved for block creation, consensus, and network management. On the other hand, the GAS token isn’t pre-mined and is designed for purposes like maintaining the blockchain on a daily basis and allocating resources. Thus, it acts as security and serves as a medium of a transaction to fuel the Neo blockchain.
History of Neo
Neo’s ICO event was held in 2016 when one-half of 100 million tokens were sold, and another half was distributed to the NEO Council. The ICO raised about 6119 BTC and managed to generate a market capitalization of $5 billion by the end of 2017. According to cryptonewsz.com, NEO started trading at $6 in July 20@17 and grew by 2600% in January 2018. Therefore, on January 15, 2018, NEO’s price had surged from $10.51 to its all-time high price of $196.85 at once.
Experts View on NEO Coin
Many crypto experts are impressed with Neo’s offerings and abilities, thereby believing in the prospect of its growth. The Co-Founder of Social Finance, Mark Cagney, believes that NEO can topple Bitcoin in the future. Similarly, blockchain evangelist Brian Evans has endorsed the NEO token on several occasions.
Neo Price Prediction for Upcoming Years
The price of one NEO token at the time of publication is $131.83, along with a market cap of $9 billion, a 24-hour trading volume of $5 billion, a circulating supply of 70,538,831 NEO, and the 23rd market rank (as per CoinMarketCap).
The Neo price prediction is as follows:
- Coin Fan predicts that the price of NEO might rise to $783 by 2021.
- At TradingBeasts, the pricing analysts forecast that the price of NEO might end at $107.5 by 2021.
- As per Wallet Investor’s 5-year price speculation, NEO might be at $103.70 by the end of 2025.
Future of NEO Coin
The future of Neo looks bright. This is not only because of the backing given by experts to the NEO coin and its commendable price speculation but also because of its constant technological evolution and the excellent support it receives from the Chinese Government. Neo is soon migrating to N3, which is so far Neo’s most updated and powerful feature. Thus, Neo is all set to drive the concept of a smart economy forward.