What is Neo (NEO)?
Future of NEO Cryptocurrency and know how to buy NEO

#1 - What is NEO?

NEO: The Basics

Formerly known as Antshares, NEO is a blockchain platform and cryptocurrency, and a recent inspiration from Ethereum:

• Designed to digitize assets using smart contracts.
• Aiming to bring blockchain to the masses.

It supports common programming languages like Javascript and C++, and is known as “China’s Ethereum”. It’s similar to Ethereum, with improvements to its technology, making it less vulnerable to hackers than Ethereum.

NEO Development

1. The NEO coin was launched as Antshares by Da Hongfei through his company OnChain in 2014. It was only in June 2017 that Antshares was rebranded as NEO.
2. NEO’s development company, OnChain uses a system known as Decentralized Network Architecture (DNA), developing public and private blockchain for businesses, which would later link up to NEO.
3. It has an active development team with both in-house developers in charge of developing the platform and a strong community of third-party developers, who would then develop the decentralized apps (DApps).

NEO Technology

1. NEO is a unique blockchain algorithm, supporting decentralized commerce, identification and digitization of various assets.
2. It integrates blockchain technology with digital identity, creating ways for physical assets like money or company shares assets to be digitized and exchanged over the NEO network in a peer-to-peer manner.
3. NEO aims to build a platform on which other decentralized applications can be built by allowing users to execute smart contracts on their blockchain, thus increasing the spread of the blockchain technology.

A smart contract is a self-executing contract in which the terms of the agreement are written directly into code, making it binding and doing away with the need to trust a third party. Whereas the smart contracts in Ethereum can only be written in a language called Solidity, NEO contracts can be written in common programming languages like C++, Javascript, Python, etc. making it automatically more accessible to the masses.

Rather than the conventional Proof-of-Work technology, NEO uses a consensus mechanism called Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance (dBFT), which offers lower electricity costs and removes the possibility of a chain split. This also makes it easier for NEO to achieve its goal of digitalizing physical financial assets.

#2 - What are the advantages of NEO?

1. Digital Assets Traditional assets are to be converted into decentralized digital assets using smart contracts.
2. Digital Identity NEO will allow the creation of electronic identity information for individuals, businesses and entities, to be accessible through multi-factor authentication systems involving voice-recognition, fingerprints, sms and facial recognition.
3. Smart Contracts NEO’s smart contracts system is revolutionary in that it supports common programming languages known to 80% of the developers, so they wouldn’t have to learn a new language in order to use this.
4. DApps NEO will support the development of decentralized applications like smart funds by continuously developing more mature tools and techniques.

#3 - How to buy and store NEO

How to buy NEO Coin

Buying NEO cryptocurrency using fiat currency isn’t widely supported, but you can exchange it for other cryptocurrencies like BTC, LTC or ETH. NEO is currently listed on about 30 exchanges globally, where you can trade it with BTC, USDT, ETH and rarely even fiat currency like Euro or Indian Rupees. Top exchanges include Bittrex, Bitfinex, Cryptopia, and more.

Perhaps the best way to buy the NEO cryptocurrency is to purchase it via CoinSwitch, which aggregates multiple exchanges for you to offer you the best rates. CoinSwitch will actively help you make the right decision by providing the prices for NEO on the crypto exchanges it’s sold in, all at one place. It supports more than 140 coins and 45,000 pairs of cryptocurrencies. You can choose whichever pair you want with your NEO token, and CoinSwitch will facilitate the comparison in various exchanges.

What’s more - with CoinSwitch, cryptocurrency exchange, you need not create or rely on NEO wallet specific to the exchanges. Instead, all transactions can happen to and from your very own private wallets.

NEO Storage

There’s an NEO wallet version for Android mobiles, Windows, Mac and Linux desktops as well as online. In the last quarter of 2017, the Ledger Nano S hardware wallet also started supporting NEO, making it the safest option for users.

NEON is the desktop wallet for NEO, and it also supports GAS tokens. Other desktop wallets are NEO GUI and NEO CLI. Web Wallets that can be used are NEO Tracker, NEO Wallet, etc. Of all these, NEON is preferred because it also supports GAS, which is generally used to pay fees.

#4 - What is the future of NEO?

1. The NEO coin is not a minable currency, unlike its counterparts, so NEO mining is not possible. 100 million NEO tokens were launched in the beginning, and that’s all that’ll ever be in existence. The circulating supply is currently 65 million tokens, which is 65% of the total maximum.
   
   
2. As of June 2018, the market cap stands at approximately 3.5 billion USD, as opposed to Ethereum, whose market cap is around 60 billion USD. The individual price of NEO coins has ranged from $0.18 in September 2016 to its current value of $54.46.

Price History

Present and future trends

1. Currently ranked 11th in terms of market cap globally, the NEO coin has risen fast since its launch in the beginning of 2017.
2. From its initial price of $ 0.18, it hit a high at almost $ 180 in mid-January 2018, but has now stabilized at around $ 55.

NEO’s popularity has been increasing steadily because of its similarity to Ethereum as well as the perks over it. Experts predict that though the crypto market is highly volatile, the value of NEO coin is likely to go up in 2018, making it one among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by the end of the year.

#5 - How is NEO different from other cryptocurrencies?

1. One of the key factors which makes NEO stick out among its competitors is its smart contract system, and the fact that it supports common programming languages rather than just one.
2. It’s a step above Ethereum, one of the most popular smart contract based cryptocurrencies globally, because Ethereum’s contracts can only be in one language: Solidity, whereas NEO’s contracts can be in Javascript, C++ and Python. It also supports digitalized commerce and identification of assets through its digital identity system, thus bringing blockchain to the masses.
3. Another major difference lies in its consensus mechanism, which is dBFT rather than proof-of-work as in most other cryptocurrencies.

#6 - Should you invest in NEO?

Smart contracts are the future of blockchains. Ethereum has proved this by rising to the second position in global rankings despite being relatively new. This shows great potential if you plan to invest in NEO, which is a more user-friendly version of Ethereum.

NEO has the added benefit of support from Chinese businesses, since it has its origins in China. With China being the large market that it is, it’s obvious that an investor perspective should factor in Chinese support and regulation. At the same time, NEO’s Chinese origins can be counter-productive because of its particular exposure to China’s notoriously strict regulations. It predicted that the price of NEO coins will steadily increase throughout 2018, making it a sound investment option, in the same league as Bitcoins and Ethereum tokens.