What Is NEO? (Cryptocurrency)
NEO is an all-in-one digital asset, meaning it can be used to purchase digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, as well as real-world assets. The digital assets purchased with NEO can later be used to participate in the ecosystem’s decentralized applications (dApps), which are built using its blockchain. However, the digital assets are not yet directly usable in any applications. The digital assets that have been purchased with NEO can later be used to “mint” new digital assets on the NEO blockchain. These digital assets are called Neo tokens. NEO tokens can be used to pay for services and goods on the NEO platform, to secure voting rights on the NEO blockchain, or to claim a share of the NEO blockchain’s future dividends.
In this article, we will be discussing the NEO blockchain and how to mint Neo tokens. We will also be discussing the differences between the NEO whitepaper and the NEO blockchain.
What is NEO?
NEO is an all-in-one digital asset, meaning it can be used to purchase digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, as well as real-world assets. NEO is a non-profit organization that focuses on the development of its open source blockchain (NEO).
NEO whitepaper
The whitepaper, which was published in October of 2013, introduced the idea that NEO would be used to digitize real-world assets. The whitepaper suggested that NEO tokens could be used to represent ownership of shares in a company or physical property. We can see evidence of this in today’s society with the emergence of cryptocurrency-based companies like tZERO and ArcBlock.
NEO blockchain
The NEO blockchain is a decentralized network that operates using delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance (dBFT) consensus. The dBFT consensus mechanism combines both the advantages of traditional proof-of-work and proof-of-stake mechanisms to achieve high availability and scalability, while still maintaining decentralization.
One difference between the NEO whitepaper and the NEO blockchain is the dBFT consensus mechanism on the NEO blockchain. While the whitepaper discusses a Proof-of-Work algorithm, like Bitcoin’s, the NEO blockchain uses a delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance (dBFT) consensus algorithm which combines both Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake mechanisms to maintain decentralization and scalability.
NEO token comparison
As we mentioned before, there are two separate types of tokens on the NEO blockchain. The first type is Neo tokens. Neo tokens, like all other digital currencies, can be used to purchase digital assets or real-world assets. However, Neo tokens are not yet usable in any decentralized applications (dApps).
The second type of token is GAS tokens. GAS tokens cannot be used to purchase anything; they can only be used to pay for services and goods on the NEO network or to claim a share of the NEO blockchain’s future dividends.
The difference between both of these types of tokens is that Neo tokens are more similar to Ethereum’s Ether (ETH) than GAS is similar to Ethereum’s Gas (GAS). ETH can be used for many different purposes on the Ethereum platform, such as paying for contracts, whereas GAS can only be used for certain transactions within an Ethereum-based application — meaning that it has no value outside of an Ethereum-based application. In this way, GAS is more similar to RLC within the Red Pulse platform or RPX within the Zeepin platform because these coins have limited use cases and cannot be transferred out of their respective platforms.
In contrast, Neo’s Neo token could theoretically function as its own independent cryptocurrency that could also be transferred out of the NEO ecosystem and exchanged with other cryptocurrencies if it were able to perform tasks outside of its current ecosystem — which it cannot currently do because there are no dApps attached
NEO ICO guidelines
In order to mint Neo tokens, you need to have an NEO wallet. You first need to purchase NEO with your funds. Then, in this article, we will discuss two ways to purchase Neo tokens: Mining or trading.
Minting is a process that generates new Neo tokens on the NEO blockchain. This process can be done by acquiring NEO and then converting them into Neo tokens on the blockchain. The conversion process is called minting because it resembles the minting of coins.
Some people might use the term “NFT Minting” to refer to this process of generating new digital assets on the NEO blockchain with Neo tokens that were purchased with NEO. It is important to note that NFT Minting does not require any additional work beyond purchasing NEO and converting them into Neo tokens on the NEO blockchain; it just requires a more specific definition for what you are doing when you convert your funds from one form of value (NEO) into another form of value (Neo).
NEO network architecture
NEO has two blockchain layers: the high-performance layer and the distributed storage layer. The high-performance layer is where all transactions are processed. This layer is responsible for generating new blocks, which are then linked to the existing blockchain.
The distributed storage layer stores data that cannot be processed at high speeds, such as files. This layer also stores historical transaction data, or a copy of the blockchain.
NEO dApp development strategy
NEO’s dApps are based on the principle of “decentralized, open source, transparent, shared and collaborative”. The development of NEO’s related open-source projects is not centrally managed. Instead, the NEO Foundation provides an environment for the community to participate in project development. This approach has fostered a large number of contributors to NEO’s open-source community.
Developers who want to create their own smart contract on NEO can do so by utilizing their programming language skills, JavaScript or other common programming languages.
NEO will also provide an online compiler, which developers can use to compile and deploy their smart contracts onto the blockchain with ease. Developers can also use this tool to debug their code before deploying it.
The most important element in NEO’s dApp ecosystem is that it offers a way for developers who know how to build blockchain-based applications but don’t have enough funds or resources to build their own public chain from scratch.
How to mint Neo tokens
Like we discussed earlier, the NEO blockchain is a ledger that records all the transactions and states of the network. One of those transactions includes minting new Neo tokens. To mint Neo tokens, an individual would need to purchase digital assets with NEO on the NEO platform. The NEO platform currently does not have any goods or services for sale (except for some digital assets it offers), so anyone intending to purchase goods or services from the NEO platform would need to already own these goods or services. The newly purchased digital assets are called Neo tokens.
Getting back to our example: If you wanted to create 100 new Neo tokens, you would need to buy 10 more NEO coins and then pay for the transaction fee for minting 100 new Neo tokens on top of the 10 newly purchased NEO coins. We will discuss how much this transaction fee is below in “What are transaction fees?”
NEO project advantages
NEO is a blockchain platform that is fast, reliable, and carries out transactions quickly. The NEO project has been developed with the intention of transforming traditional industries by digitizing traditional assets and allowing for more flexibility in types of ownership. It aims to allow for cross-border trading without a need for a pre-existing agreement between trading parties.
The NEO whitepaper outlines the intention of the team behind the project to create a smart asset platform on the blockchain where users can register, trade, and sell digital assets. Therefore, one of the advantages of the NEO platform is its ability to digitize any type of tradable good or asset. Furthermore, it can do so without requiring other parties’ prior consent.
The NEO whitepaper also outlines another advantage of NEO — that digital assets are divisible. This means that they can be used as currency in small quantities without having to worry about breaking larger sums into smaller denominations. This is not an issue with physical goods like stocks or other commodities which have fixed denominations like shares or ounces. However, because digital assets are infinitely divisible, this complication becomes irrelevant when using them as currency on NEO blockchain.
