Da Hongfei is a Chinese language know-how entrepreneur finest often called a co-founder of NEO, a public blockchain platform for sensible contracts and decentralized functions, previously often called AntShares, which rebranded in 2017. He additionally co-founded Onchain, an enterprise blockchain firm, and has suggested the Chinese language authorities on blockchain coverage.
Who Is Da Hongfei?
Da Hongfei studied on the South China College of Expertise in Guangdong Province, China, from 1997 to 2001, incomes a Bachelor of Arts in Expertise and English. He then labored at IntPass Consulting in Shanghai from 2005 to 2013, serving as a board member and finally CEO of the corporate.
Hongfei found Bitcoin in 2011 whereas nonetheless at IntPass Consulting and started actively selling Bitcoin adoption in China at a time when the nation had little in the best way of an organized Bitcoin group. He grew to become a acknowledged determine in that early group because it grew over the next years, and that have led him to conclude {that a} new blockchain, constructed in a different way from Bitcoin, may higher help broader utility improvement.
For profiles of different builders shaping the Web3 business, go to our crypto personalities web page.
Da Hongfei’s Profession and Contributions
In January 2014, Hongfei introduced AntShares, a blockchain platform for constructing decentralized functions, with the venture launching the next month. He co-founded the venture alongside Erik Zhang, who later grew to become NEO’s Chief Expertise Officer, and the 2 additionally co-founded Onchain that very same 12 months. In June 2017, AntShares rebranded to NEO, adopting a “sensible financial system” framing centered on combining digital property, digital id, and sensible contracts.
NEO makes use of a dual-token mannequin, which is NEO for governance and community participation and GAS because the utility token for paying transaction and sensible contract execution charges. Its consensus mechanism, delegated Byzantine fault tolerance (dBFT), was launched following an April 2016 white paper and was designed to supply quicker, extra deterministic transaction finality than proof-of-work methods.
For context, NEO may course of as much as 1,000 transactions per second, in comparison with Ethereum’s roughly 15 on the time dBFT was launched, although throughput comparisons throughout blockchains have shifted considerably since then as each networks have advanced. NEO later underwent a serious improve often called NEO N3, which launched a revised structure for charges, governance, and native platform options.
Onchain constructed a product known as DNA, or Distributed Networks Structure, geared toward serving to companies combine blockchain know-how into current processes and enabling interoperability throughout completely different blockchain methods. Onchain grew to become the primary China-based blockchain venture to hitch Hyperledger, and the corporate additionally shaped enterprise partnerships with Microsoft China and Alibaba.
Notably, Hongfei performed a task in China’s response to the 2017 ICO increase, reportedly being contacted by authorities officers forward of the nation’s September 2017 ban on ICOs and cryptocurrency exchanges, and offering consultancy enter meant to restrict the ban’s influence on China’s broader blockchain improvement ambitions.
Da Hongfei’s Views and Positions
Hongfei has constantly framed NEO across the concept of a “sensible financial system,” during which digital property, digital id, and sensible contracts work collectively to help each shopper and enterprise functions. He has emphasised long-term sustainability and interoperability over short-term speculative good points and has advocated for gradual, government-compatible adoption slightly than adoption that bypasses regulatory engagement.
Extra just lately, Hongfei has targeted on integrating synthetic intelligence and zero-knowledge know-how into the NEO ecosystem. He has publicly mentioned SpoonOS, a developer framework for constructing AI-powered brokers on NEO, together with brokers designed to carry out arbitrage between decentralized and centralized exchanges, and introduced $2 million in funding to help its improvement.
Readers keen on how AI and blockchain are converging extra broadly can discover context in our information on synthetic intelligence and crypto.
Da Hongfei’s Internet Value in 2026
Da Hongfei’s web value is estimated at $100 million based mostly totally on his affiliation with NEO’s ecosystem worth and Onchain’s enterprise enterprise, with NEO’s market capitalization as a reference level, alongside Onchain’s income from administration and efficiency charges tied to its enterprise blockchain providers.
Since Hongfei’s precise private token holdings and fairness stakes should not public, this determine must be handled as an estimate derived from his affiliated tasks slightly than a confirmed private web value.
Regularly Requested Questions
Want a refresher? Listed below are the questions readers most frequently ask about Da Hongfei.
Who’s Da Hongfei?
Da Hongfei is a Chinese language know-how entrepreneur finest often called a co-founder of NEO, a smart-contract blockchain platform that started as AntShares in 2014 and rebranded in 2017. He additionally co-founded Onchain, an enterprise blockchain firm, and has been concerned in shaping China’s strategy to blockchain regulation.
What’s Da Hongfei’s web value?
Da Hongfei’s web value is estimated at $100 million, based mostly on his affiliation with NEO’s ecosystem and Onchain’s enterprise enterprise. No independently verified determine exists, since Hongfei has not publicly disclosed his private holdings.
What’s NEO and the way is it completely different from Ethereum?
NEO is a public blockchain platform for sensible contracts and decentralized functions, utilizing a dual-token mannequin with NEO for governance and GAS for transaction charges. It makes use of a delegated Byzantine fault tolerance consensus mechanism meant to supply quicker, extra deterministic transaction finality than Ethereum’s unique proof-of-work design, and helps sensible contracts written in a number of programming languages slightly than requiring a single language, as in Ethereum’s Solidity.
What’s Onchain?
Onchain is an enterprise blockchain firm co-founded by Da Hongfei and Erik Zhang in 2014, constructed to supply blockchain-based options for companies and establishments individually from NEO’s public community. Onchain developed a product known as DNA, or Distributed Community Structure, and have become the primary China-based blockchain venture to hitch Hyperledger.
Did Da Hongfei assist form China’s crypto rules?
Hongfei has been concerned in consulting with Chinese language authorities officers on blockchain coverage, together with within the lead-up to China’s September 2017 ban on ICOs and cryptocurrency exchanges. Stories describe him as having been contacted by officers forward of that ban, although the total extent of his affect on the ultimate coverage has not been independently detailed.