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Da Hongfei, Neo co-founder and CEO of Neo Global Development, disclosed that two audit firms have verbally agreed to conduct a financial audit or due diligence report on Neo’s treasury, with at least one expected to be secured by the end of March. The announcement came during a live AMA on X Live on March 4, his first public appearance following the simultaneous release of Neo’s FY2025 financial report and an AI strategy article outlining Neo X’s agent-native blockchain vision.
The AMA, moderated by Rachel Wolfson of the Deep Dive podcast, featured panelists Kyle Chassé of Master Ventures and Dennis Liu, the YouTuber known as VirtualBacon. Da fielded questions on treasury transparency, audit progress, governance reform, and Neo’s AI positioning, offering candid admissions alongside ambitious commitments.
Audit timeline and financial report
The financial report released on March 3 was described by Da as a “preview”, published to get numbers to the community quickly rather than wait for a fully verified version. While the report discloses treasury composition and asset totals, not all wallet addresses are included and the figures remain provisional. A final version is expected within two weeks and is anticipated to be “almost the same,” though Da acknowledged the numbers, facts, and wording are still being rechecked.
The audit is planned to transform these self-reported figures into independently verified facts. Da confirmed that Neo Global Development is in late-stage negotiations with two firms – one based in Hong Kong, one headquartered in Europe – both approached before the Chinese New Year. He expects to secure at least one by the end of March, with audit work to begin immediately after signing.
He acknowledged the difficulty of engaging auditors for crypto entities, noting that no major blockchain foundation has published a fully audited financial report:
“Those audit agencies, they are reluctant to work with crypto foundations. And I did some research. I didn’t find any major blockchain foundation [with] audited full financial report.”
Taking responsibility
Asked about the community’s frustration with years of limited communication, Da offered a direct acknowledgment of past failures.
“I really understand the frustration from the Neo community. I take full responsibility for the things that we should have done better. For example the governance, decentralization or reform delay, the missed opportunity during the DeFi summer and the lack of communication to the communities. That’s my responsibility.”
He described a period where Neo tried competing with other blockchains on speed, TVL, and on-chain transactions, a strategy he said led to “negative feedback” and paralysis. The shift to an AI-agent-native positioning, he said, reflects a lesson learned from Neo’s earliest success.
Governance reform as top priority
Turning to governance, Da identified reform as his most important objective for 2026, describing it as a multi-front challenge spanning token custody, foundation jurisdiction, and community representation.
“Decentralization sounds like the right direction to go and I believe that’s the right direction to go. But the devils are in details and there are nuances to solve. It won’t be an easy job. It will be a challenge for me. That is my biggest KPI this year 2026.”
Specific reforms outlined during the AMA include transitioning all token custody from single-signature to multi-signature wallets by the end of 2026, relocating the Neo Foundation from Singapore to a jurisdiction more favorable to crypto foundations, establishing transparent multi-sig management for over 1,100 BTC and more than $100 million in cash, and creating pathways for community members to participate in decision-making within the foundation and NGD.
The conversation also addressed the possibility of a second giveback program, with Da proposing to return 50% of Neo’s token supply to the community. The Neo Foundation originally reserved 50% of the supply, and Da noted holdings have remained near that level even after 12 years of operations. He pointed to Neo’s liquid capital position of over US $200 million in Bitcoin and stablecoins as evidence that the foundation can operate without relying on its token holdings. Da described the idea as “one option” within the restructuring plan still being developed, without providing specifics on mechanics or timeline.
The proposal would echo an earlier move Da described as a “first of its kind in blockchain history” – a 2017 giveback program in which Neo repaid all seed round and ICO investors without requiring them to return their tokens, leaving the foundation running entirely on its own capital.
AI-native blockchain thesis
On the topic of Neo X’s AI strategy, Da expanded on the reasoning behind the agent-native approach, framing it as a deliberate break from competing on performance.
“Competing on performance or competing on new features are a dead end. The existing bigger blockchains can always improve, they can always adapt new features or performance. I think to make something really impactful, you cannot compete with them at their own game, at their own category. You need to find a blue sea.”
He drew a sharp distinction between blockchains built for humans and those built for agents, comparing it to the difference between Twitter and a blogging platform. Both can publish text, but purpose-built architecture creates a fundamentally different product.
“Every time I make a big transfer on-chain, I’m so nervous. I check everything like multiple times,” Da said, adding that even after a decade of UX improvement, the emergence of AI agents may have “saved us from making those horrible mistakes doing transactions on chain.”
VirtualBacon offered a practitioner’s perspective on the thesis, noting that traditional SaaS platforms built around buttons and visual interfaces struggle with AI integration, while agent-native platforms can be adopted “in one prompt.”
Kyle Chase framed the timing as decisive: “Anyone who’s leaning into AI right now heavily is going to be ahead of everybody else. The only option to move forward, whoever moves first on using agents and using agents to build, are going to be the ones who are ahead of the game.”
Hong Kong positioning
Asked about NGD’s choice of operating base, Da described Hong Kong as a jurisdiction with accessible regulators and a recovering economic environment.
“Government officials and the legislators in Hong Kong are very down to earth. I often talk to them in person. Sometimes they even [ask] questions happening in the industry. So the communication is like a breeze. It’s very easy.”
He noted that after a period of capital and talent outflows following 2019, Hong Kong has begun to recover, with people and money “moving back” over the past one to two years. Most NGD employees now hold Hong Kong identification, and Da described the region’s talent pool in engineering and finance as a significant advantage.
Path forward
Da positioned Neo’s current situation as a deliberate reset rather than a decline, citing a treasury that remains well-capitalized, a global community, and a team executing on new technical direction.
“Financially, Neo is at a very good position to revive in the coming years. We have $461 million in our treasury. More than $200 million are highly liquid. So we have the resources and we also have the talents. We have the resolution to move forward and move forward fast.”
He described the moment in characteristically direct terms: “Now we are rebooting, resetting the histories and we are relaunching ourselves again. I think it will be a great start.”
The full AMA can be found at the link below:
https://x.com/Rachelwolf00/status/2029015477624705413?s=20