NEO. I can't think of any other altcoin which has been more hotly discussed in the latter half of 2017.
NEO burst onto the crypto scene in July when it rebranded from Antshares, quickly becoming China's favourite cryptocurrency. In the month following the rebrand its market cap surpassed Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ripple, growing by over 3000% in a month. Unfortunately, the FUD surrounding China's ban of crypto exchanges and ICOs took a significant toll on NEO, with it retreating to 8th place on coinmarketcap and dropping from an all time high of US$48 down to its low of $13.50 in September. The price has slowly been staggering upwards since then, currently sitting at $29. Despite the volatility, NEO believers are adamant that it could become the number 1, 2 or 3 cryptocurrency.
At its essence, NEO is a smart contract and decentralised application (dApp) platform. Sound familiar? No wonder it has been dubbed "China's Ethereum". NEO's and Ethereum's philosophies are identical; they both are solving the same issue; they both base their brand on a "Smarter Economy". This means smart contracts, digital identity, and digital assets. However, unlike Ethereum, NEO's blockchain technology is ready for real-world-use. As a result, there are more than 50 major companies that are planning to adopt NEO's technology in China.
There are other advantages. Firstly, NEO's smart contracts are coded in Java, C#, and C++, meaning developers no longer need to learn new languages, unlike Ethereum which is coded in Solidity. Secondly, while Ethereum currently employs a slower, poorly energy efficient Proof-of-Work algorithm, Neo uses a unique consensus mechanism (dBFT) which supports more transactions at any one time: 10,000 per second compared to Ethereum's 15 per second. Finally, NEO's platform is perfect for running ICOs. I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes the go-to platform for Chinese ICOs (once the Chinese government gives the all clear).
NEO's prospects sure sound great, but they do have stiff competition. Ethereum already has mainstream adoption, an incredible dev team and immense supporter backing. While NEO has the backing of the Chinese government, Ethereum has the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance (if you haven't heard of this, it is definitely worth a google).
The challenge for NEO will be getting mainstream use cases through ICOs. If ICOs don't use the platform that would spell trouble. But on the flip side, if international investors and developers realised that NEO is easier to adopt than Ethereum; this could destroy Ethereum's reputation as a founder and producer of smart contracts.
As a holder of both, I'm in two minds as to whether I want this to occur...
Price at posting: US$28.40.
https://neo.org/en-GB
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/neo/
https://coinsutra.com/neo-vs-ethereum-differences/
