NEO (formerly Antshares) has boomed this year for good reason. First, from everything I have read, the tech foundation seems really solid. Widespread rumor reflects that, which is important since most blockchain/crypto investors do not have the knowledge to perform their own in-depth evaluation, or even to comprehend others' verification process. Second, NEO is Chinese. Some of the largest companies in the world are Chinese, even if no one outside of China has heard of them. Non-Chinese businesses like Walmart, Uber, Google, and Facebook struggle to survive in China. Third, NEO was undervalued compared to similar offerings. It is perpetually compared to Ethereum, for example - NEO was (and remains) cheap in comparison and, unlike Ethereum, there is a limited and small supply. Due to those three factors, NEO boomed to a high of approximately $51.
But-for China's drastic regulatory action last month, NEO likely would have continued to skyrocket. In August, NEO-based Red Pulse banned Chinese citizens from its initial coin offerings (ICO). That was the first warning sign that China was ramping up for something big, despite the silver lining for NEO fans that NEO and its affiliates seemed to be in on it. NEO started to plunge in response. China then banned ICOs. In response, all cryptos understandably took a dive into deep red territory, NEO and other Chinese-based cryptos and platforms more so than others. Then, in an even bigger move, China shut down Chinese-based crypto exchanges. Cryptos and NEO dove down deeper.
Now, we remain firmly in the recovery process. Neither NEO nor other cryptos have fully regained prior values. NEO in particular has shot up, especially after NEO Founder Da Hongfei's interview confirming that he was aware of the ICO ban before it occurred and even advised Chinese government officials on it. He further speculated that collaboration between NEO and the Chinese government is possible (China often collaborates with private businesses), meaning NEO would be the default blockchain for all Chinese projects. Even without explicit government collaboration, NEO might very well be the default blockchain in China. It has first-mover advantage, and the Chinese government has pretty clearly put its stamp of approval on NEO at this point. With this in mind, NEO's recent growth is entirely expected and predictable. Further, as of today, there is still low trading volume in NEO compared to previous highs, indicating there is plenty of room for it to continue the upward trend.
A side note - despite rumors that Hong-Kong crypto exchange Binance might be shut down, Binance is thriving. It no longer supports Chinese users, but had 80%+ non-Chinese international users before this fiasco. Although Bittrex is also a huge NEO trading platform, Binance remains the NEO trading platform of choice since it evaluates users' daily NEO holdings and provides users with NEO GAS on a monthly basis.
Personally, I predict $80-100 NEO values over the next 2-3 months (based on past growth charts, so long as Bitcoin values don't do anything crazy), with a brief dip afterward as investors recoup some of their gains, and continuing upward mobility after that. Values will likely be in the $500 range by the end of 2018. NEO GAS is also rising and will continue to rise.
Disclaimer: I do have a personal financial interest in NEO and NEO GAS, among other crypto investments. Just curious to get your thoughts - and your NEO donations if you're willing! AcMcPEmeeAHpRzqziQG3N9Pe96U2Xbn3r3