There have been a few new coins that have been labeled as the “Ethereum Killer’ and NEO is on that list.
But let’s go over what these two have in common and then we can dig into how NEO is setting itself apart.
We can start with the obvious, they are both centered around providing users with the ability to use smart contracts and digital assets.
Allow me to list a few of the aspects of NEO that caught my attention:
- NEO coins cannot be divided- you’ll notice this when you want to make a transfer and will only be able to move whole integers, instead of the usual numbers with a decimal. (HINT: the trick is to add in the value of the transaction fee to the amount you wish to move)
- They provide digital certificates which provide legal protection for the digital assets on the NEO network.
- Developers can program smart contracts using C++, C#, Go, Java, and other programming languages. This opens the door for many developers who haven’t yet mastered Solidity- which is the only programming language that is allowed for developing smart contracts on Ethereum.
- Utilizes dBFT consensus- that is delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance. This means they achieve consensus by the shareholders electing nodes who have staked a certain amount of coins, each node’s vote has equal weight and is paid with transaction fees. It’s also important to note that this also means the blockchain will shut down before a fork occurs, proving their interest with congruity rather than activity.
- They also have a protocol that facilitates cross chain transactions that does not compromise smart contracts that are executed on different chains.
- This one is perhaps the most impressive in my opinion, and that is their “Lattice cryptology-quantum computer-proof technology”- meaning they can achieve encryption that cannot be hacked by current quantum computers.
If you own any NEO, no matter the amount, I recommend storing them on the NEON wallet.
You can download it from their official website, it’s a lite client wallet, meaning you don’t have to download the entire blockchain, and it is compatible with Windows, Linux and OSX operating systems.
I suggest this because once you have them stored on that wallet, you will automatically receive payments of their Gas coin.
If you have NEO coins on the Binance exchange they will allocate the accrued Gas coins to you. However, if you are holding NEO coins on Bittrex, they will not distribute the gas coins, and instead will keep it for themselves.
So again, this is why I suggest downloading your own wallet that you control so you are for sure able to get your gas payments.
In case you’re wondering why you should care about this NEO gas coin, I found a great website that provides the best explanation of what gas is and why it is valuable:
“NEO has two native tokens, NEO (abbreviated symbol NEO) and NeoGas (abbreviated symbol GAS).
NEO, with a total of 100 million tokens, represents the right to manage the network...."
"GAS is the fuel token for the realization of NEO network resource control, with a maximum total limit of 100 million. The NEO network charges for the operation and storage of tokens and smart contracts, thereby creating economic incentives for bookkeepers and preventing the abuse of resources. The minimum unit of GAS is 0.00000001.
In the creation block of the NEO network, 100 million NEOs are generated, GAS has not yet been generated. 100 million GAS, corresponding to the 100 million NEO, will be generated through a decay algorithm in about 22 years time to address holding NEO.”
So you can see that NEO gas is similar in its application as that of ethereum’s gas, it’s what is paid to conduct smart contracts, and it’s similar to Bitcoin in its design to release less and less coins as time goes on until it eventually reaches it’s max supply.
If you're at all interested in learning more about NEO, you need to check out the links down below!
Additional Reading/Sources:
NEO Website
Website Dedicated to Publishing NEO Updates
SeekingAlpha Article
BitcoinMagazine Interviews the NEO Team
dBFT Consensus Explained
Calculate How much GAS You'll Earn Based on How Much NEO You Hold
Binance Article that Elaborates on GAS