Da Hongfei, the founder of NEO, has voiced his concerns regarding the over-regulation of the blockchain sector, arguing that the emergence of a new regulatory system is needed.

The statements were made last month on October 30th, durnig an interview for 8btc. Hongfei argued:

“In essence, blockchain can barely survive within the existing financial regulation system. A licensed institute may find it unnecessary to cooperate with a blockchain company because it is already licensed to conduct the business. Why would it bother to be engaged in a partnership that doesn’t benefit it that much? If blockchain companies end up with no license, they won’t be legally permitted to promote massive adoption of applications.”

It’s important to note China has far from the most progressive crypto regulatory framework. The Public Bank of China is yet to lift the ban on cryptocurrencies, meaning ICO and cryptocurrency trading is still illegal.  

Hongfei explained that the financial industry was the one everyone expected to be disrupted by blockchain and distributed ledger technology. He argued however, that due to regulatory barriers, it seems that the gaming industry is in a better position to be transformed by blockchain:

“In the future, blockchain games may present a virtual world similar to that constructed in the sci-fi film “Ready Player One” where all the virtual assets are recorded on the blockchain, the implementation of which requires a flawless economic model. However, we can’t predict the timing of such games. I hope that someday blockchain games can even be played by my daughter.”

Hongfei was also questioned about the progress of NEO’s governance system towards decentralization. NEO’s primary nodes are still owned and operated by the NEO Council, giving the council full power of decision over the network. He argued however, that as the network continues to scale, centralization will be virtually impossible as its difficult for one group to control a large number of nodes:

“However, the majority of votes come from exchanges and our team so far, which gives the NEO team more say on the matter. The team will delegate the voting power to the public in the future and by that time, the team will have a less dominant influence on the voting results.”

When asked about competition from other projects, Hongfei believes that NEO stands above the competition by developing a platform that is both user-friendly and developer-friendly. Hongfei thinks documentation and tutorials for developers are essential for the growth of NEO.

Finally, Hongfei had a few harsh words for crypto investors. Prioritizing the investment of time over money, NEO’s founder thinks that now is the time to innovate:

“You should invests time and intelligence in the industry and do something creative, at the same time, refrain from just investing money in it, expecting how it will rise tomorrow and how many times it will be doubled,”