The latest version of Neo, N3, was released on 16 March 2021 after two and a half years of development. This version had been planned by the Neo foundation since July 2018. This is the 6th version of Neo, also known as the "Chinese Ethereum". Finally, the official Neo blockchain website officially announced the release of this new version on 17 March, triggering a sudden rise in its price. Its TestNet has been active since 25 March.
So, what's behind Neo N3 and its "all in one" slogan?
Neo, "the most complete blockchain development platform available".
"The most complete blockchain development platform available" is how the Neo team presents its network. In fact, the Neo network offers a host of features and is undergoing continuous development, which sets it apart from most other blockchains. Neo's aim is to establish a "smart economy" based on the use of smart contracts.
Neo has two tokens: the NEO, which is used to invest, and the GAS, to pay transaction fees. NEO is currently trading at €38.31. This cryptocurrency ranks 38th on the market with a total market capitalisation of €2,733,056,675 and 70,538,831 NEO tokens in circulation.
This cryptocurrency was launched in 2014, under the name AntShares. It is a Chinese cryptocurrency. It changed its name to Neo in June 2017. Neo is regularly compared to Ethereum. It is the first Chinese blockchain to have an open source protocol. Neo offers an entire economic system, smart contracts, an oracle network and the ability to easily develop decentralised applications (DApps). Its system is compatible with other blockchains such as Ethereum and Binance Chain.
Features of the Neo platform
Neo is one of the few cryptocurrencies to have been accepted by the Chinese government. This support is due in particular to Neo's strong potential as a competitor to the giant Ethereum. Neo is extremely similar to the cryptocurrency behemoth, but its system tends to offer greater scalability and more security than Ethereum. In a nutshell, Neo is an improved Ethereum.
So what are the advantages of Neo over Ethereum?
Neo has adopted DBFT (Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance) as its consensus process. This protocol enables a vote to be taken between the various nodes on its network in real time. This allows Neo to carry out around 1,000 transactions per second and generate a block every 10 to 15 seconds. In comparison, Ethereum is currently limited to between 7 and 15 transactions per second, although the platform should soon improve its scalability problems.
The virtual machine used by Neo to create smart contracts, NeoVM, supports a variety of programming languages. This makes it much easier to create smart contracts with Neo.
Neo uses NeoQS for cryptography. Based on quantum computing, it is one of the most secure cryptographies.
New features introduced by Neo N3
The Neo N3 developers have, of course, presented the platform's new features. Most of these features are not compatible with the previous version, Neo 2.x.
The major improvement brought by Neo N3 is, according to them, the integration of NeoFS into the Oracle module, with these nodes now operating as a side chain. Neo has also added calculation facilities and corrected bugs from its previous version.
The new Neo platform should enable transactions to be up to 100 times faster. Neo will also be more secure and will be able to increase transaction volumes.
In terms of the platform's governance, NEO token holders will now vote to elect a 21-member board of directors, 7 of whom will become nodes in the consensus protocol. These 21 directors will represent the community and will be able to vote on changes to certain parameters of the blockchain. The consensus nodes will also have a right of veto. Token holders who participate in the election will receive additional tokens. This process increases the role of the community and encourages it to participate in the governance of the platform.
Neo will also be launching NeoID, described on its website as "a set of self-sovereign decentralized identity solution standard".
From TestNet to Neo N3's MainNet
For the moment, Neo is only at the TestNet stage of its new version. This is a crucial stage. It involves the launch of a new channel dedicated to testing. Developers will be able to test all the features of N3 and carry out experiments in complete peace of mind, without disrupting the main channel.
If the test version of Neo N3 is conclusive, the group has announced that it will subsequently launch a new website and new calls for subsidies. Neo also plans to organise several hackathons, programming marathons open to all.
There are many projects and events to come before the Neo N3 MainNet, i.e. the definitive transfer to the new version of Neo. The date of its MainNet has not yet been announced. In the meantime, Neo's developers have decided to rename Neo 2.x 'Legacy' to reflect the age of this version. This channel will not be updated in the future. However, it will not be destroyed. Legacy and N3 will operate simultaneously. This means that Neo users will have time to migrate to N3 at the end of TestNet.
Our verdict: should you invest in Neo?
Unlike Bitcoin, Neo is not intended to become a currency for exchanging goods and services. So you won't be able to use your NEOs outside the platform.
It can, however, be an attractive stock market investment. The dynamism of its team and the renewal of its platform have led to sharp variations in its share price, which has been on an upward trend since January. Neo's share price began the year at €11.82. It reached its first annual peak of €42.07 on 21 February, and has remained above the €30 mark ever since. The announcement of the opening of its TestNet boosted its value by 3% in just 24 hours. Today, Neo is priced at €38.31, making it a very reasonably priced cryptocurrency.
