What is NEO?
NEO is an open source cryptocurrency and blockchain platform that was launched in 2014. The name comes from the Greek word for ‘youth’ and ‘innovation’. While NEO initially started out as Antshares, it was successfully rebranded in 2017 with great success. This smart economy platform has been labelled the ‘Chinese Ethereum’ of the cryptoeconomy. Essentially, NEO is a smart contracts ecosystem that allows digital assets to be stored and exchanged by users. One of the main aims of NEO is to take advantage of developing technology. For example, one facet of the project is combining one’s digital identity, in the form of facial and voice recognition, with the blockchain. The NEO platform has two different tokens: NEO and GAS.
How does it work?
The NEO platform is still under development. Making a transfer on the NEO blockchain is free. However, more advanced blockchain functions, such as creating a smart contract or registering a digital asset, costs GAS (the official token of the NEO blockchain). While GAS is to be used to pay for advanced operations of the blockchain, the NEO token is used to help generate GAS in the first place. You can accumulate GAS simply by holding NEO in your wallet. What’s more, by holding NEO, you receive some voting rights. NEO currency is not mineable. However, the more NEO you own, the more GAS you can accumulate. There were 100 million NEO issued and this amount cannot be increased. The smallest possible unit of NEO is 1 NEO and this is not divisible.
What is a smart contract?
Essentially, a smart contract is a contract that is written in code. It allows a person to exchange something of value with another person. This could be anything from shares of a stock to property. One of the key benefits of a smart contract is that you don’t have to have blind faith in another party. A smart contract can be written so that a particular action is executed following the completion of certain conditions. Because the contract is uploaded to the blockchain and run by every node on the network, it’s free from downtime or interference.
How is it different from Ethereum?
While there are some similarities between NEO and Ethereum, there are also a number of key differences that make them two unique projects. NEO is a blockchain project and is designed to host everything from smart contracts to ICOs and decentralised applications (Dapps). While this is also true of Ethereum, one obvious difference is that NEO’s network can manage 1,000 transactions per second, as compared to the Ethereum network which can only process 15 transactions per second. Another difference between the two is that NEO supports multiple programming languages. In contrast, Ethereum only supports Solidity. Also, NEO’s tokens are not divisible and only exist in whole numbers, while Ethereum’s tokens can be divided into fractions.
Buying and Selling
At the time of writing, NEO is one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies available with a market cap of over $10 billion. Needless to say, there’s no shortage of cryptocurrency exchanges on which you can buy NEO. In particular, there are plenty of pair options with BTC and ETH, as well as with some fiat currencies including NEO/USD.
Purchasing NEO tokens differs based on your location. Be sure to understand the laws regarding purchasing cryptocurrency in your country before investing. One option that almost everyone can use for buying and trading NEO is ShapeShift. You must have another cryptocurrency to do this, however, the advantage of ShapeShift is that no registration is required.
- USA: If you’re looking for a NEO/USD pair, then your best established exchange is Bitfinex. However, there are plenty of pairs with BTC and ETH, as well. It’s easy to sign up on a user-friendly crypto exchange, such as Coinbase, deposit funds with your credit or debit card, buy Bitcoin or Ethereum, and then transfer it to an exchange that supports NEO, such as Binance.
- Canada: There is not yet a NEO/CAD pairing available, but it’s still possible to buy NEO if you’re in Canada. Perhaps the most convenient option is to sign up to the Canadian cryptocurrency exchange, QuadrigaCX. You can then fund your account, buy ETH (it’s quicker and cheaper than bitcoin), and then send the funds to Binance or Bitfinex to exchange for NEO.
- UK: You can find one NEO/GBP pair via CryptoMate. It allows for funding via instant bank transfer. Alternatively, signing up on Coinbase to buy another cryptocurrency, such as ETH is also relatively easy. The ETH can then be transferred to the Binance or Bitfinex exchanges for trading ETH to NEO.
- Australia: One of the easiest ways to buy NEO in Australia is via an Australian cryptocurrency exchange called CoinSpot. There you can purchase NEO direct for AUD. Another popular exchange in Australia is BTC Markets. While you can’t buy NEO directly on that site, you can buy another cryptocurrency and then send it to Bitfinex or Binance to exchange for NEO.
- Europe: It’s not possible to find a NEO/EUR pair on any major cryptocurrency exchanges. However, there are still plenty of ways to buy NEO currency in Europe. Arguably, the easiest is using Coinbase to buy Ethereum, and then transferring it to Binance or Bitfinex. Alternatively, you can use Kraken, which allows for free SEPA transfers.
Storage Options
If you’re planning on buying NEO, you’ll want a safe place to store your NEO tokens. While keeping your NEO tokens on a cryptocurrency exchange is convenient for trading, it’s also particularly risky. There have been several cases of exchanges shutting down, closing user accounts, and being the target of hacks resulting in the theft of funds. It’s therefore a great idea to download a wallet to safeguard your NEO tokens.
There are a number of different wallet types to consider. Each of these offers a different level of convenience and security. For example, the hardware wallet is considered the most secure option, since it’s offline. In contrast, the web wallet is not as secure but is very convenient, as you can check your balance on any internet-connected device. Let’s take a look at some of the wallets available to you that support NEO.
Supporting Wallets
- Desktop: One of the best NEO wallets available is NEON. This desktop wallet allows you to automatically claim your generated GAS when you’re holding NEO in your wallet. Available on Windows, Mac, and Linux, NEON is approved by NEO’s developers. It’s a light wallet, which means you don’t have to store a huge amount of data locally. Alternatively, there’s the official desktop wallet, NEO GUI. This will take time to sync with the whole blockchain, however, and is only currently compatible with Windows.
- Hardware: Of the main hardware wallets on the market, only the Ledger Nano S wallet supports NEO currently. This is a great option for those seeking maximum security, since a hardware wallet is offline and not vulnerable to hackers or viruses. The Ledger Nano S works in conjunction with the NEON desktop wallet and allows you to claim GAS as a result.
- Mobile: There aren’t many NEO wallet options for mobile. The main option is O3 which is available for Android and iOS. Both versions allow you to claim GAS and are the recommended mobile apps on the official NEO website. There’s also another NEO mobile wallet option for Android called NEO APP. This is a light wallet which is also listed on the NEO website.
- Web/Online: A web wallet is one of the least secure wallet types since it’s vulnerable to hackers and often involves leaving your private keys in the hands of a third party. However, there’s no doubt that web or online wallets are convenient. You can use NEO Tracker or NEO Wallet, which are both open-source wallets. In the case of NEO Tracker, private keys are stored locally on your computer, which is safer than storing it online with a third party.
- Paper: A paper wallet is as secure as a hardware wallet, but more vulnerable to wear and tear. What’s more, you can’t claim generated GAS tokens with this wallet type. One of the best options available to you is the Ansy Paper Wallet for NEO. This makes generating a paper wallet for you NEO quick and easy.