NOTE: This is a rating of the NEO currency and not of NEO project.
I do not own any NEOcoins or GAS
Advice made on the 27/01/2018, my evaluation could change over time
Introduction:
(FROM NEO WEBSITE)
NEOplatform is the use of blockchain technology and digital identity to digitize assets (stocks, shares, properties, tokens, etc.), the use of smart contracts for digital assets to be self-managed, to achieve "smart economy" with a distributed network.
It wants work with governments to do this.
NEO platform has two native tokens, NEO (I will refer to it as NEOcoin) and NeoGas (abbreviated symbol GAS).
NEOcoin, represents the right to manage the network. Management rights include voting for bookkeeping, NEO network parameter changes and so on.
NEOcoin = A Share for the NEOplatform
GAS = The currency of the platform
Value NEOcoin: 5,2
The vision of the NEOproject is quite inspiring and it is being worked by a very good team.
However, this does not make NEOcoin a good investment.
Operating on its platform, there is a better asset called Gas - being the critical component to run the envisioned smart-economy.
NEOcoin value could increase if organizations would want to start controlling the vote decisions of the platform.
But it is not clear whether this is going to happen. What is clear is that organizations need to buy a TON of GAS if they want to operate on the platform. And GAS has a small inflation when compared to NEOcoin (at the moment).
A feature of NEO is that it rewards its holders with GAS (22 year, 1 NEO = MAX 1 GAS).
However, right now, the price of GAS is 1/3 of NEO's. So instead of buying 1 NEO and getting 1 GAS, one could equivalently buy 3 GAS and profit from the expected increase in demand
Network Value NEOcoin: 2
NEOcoin is at risk of being easily dumped in the market in the future, when it no longer grants you GAS.
Having voting rights to the NEOplatform can give NEOholders power, but there is no intrinsic value in it.
NEOcoin was the way for OnChain (company that founded NEO) to get funding, the actual currency is GAS.
Potential Growth NEO: 3
As NEO platform becomes more known, the NEO coin will increase in value because of the name association.
But when people start to actually use the platform and not just speculate on its value a fun fact will arise.
NEO coin is not the currency of NEO. It is GAS.
NEO coin only serves to give it's holders GAS.
And this amount is always decreasing over time until zero
52% of GAS is distributed in the first four year and 80% in the first 12 years
And right now around 10% of the GAS has already been distributed.
So I would hurry up if you want to buy NEOcoins!
Partnerships: 8
Partnering with OnChain, Microsoft China, City of Zion, Hyperledger, the Chinese regional government and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, makes NEO really strong when it comes to synergy opportunities. It is also traded in most crypto exchanges.
Development Team value: 10
One of the main strengths of NEO is its large development community and several reputable companies working in developing different parts of it.
Companies like OnChain (founded), Microsoft China, City of Zion are the developing the platform and they are very active.
Utility of NEO: 3
I see no appeal to buy NEO other than that it will give you some GAS over time.
NEO can be used as a currency, but GAS is needed to run smart contracts and operations.
GAS is clearly the main asset of NEO.
And NEOcoin can't even be divided so it is not a practical currency.
TLDR; NEOcoin is not a good investment, GAS is the currency of NEOplatform
Sources:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2057932.0
https://neo.org/
https://trello.com/neo_blockchain
https://github.com/neo-project
https://medium.com/@cityofzion
https://www.reddit.com/r/NEO/
https://neotogas.com/