What is Neo? How It Works & Where to Use It

Overview

Neo at a glance.

Neo is a smart-contract platform built around the idea of a "smart economy". It uses a dual-token model where NEO governs the network and GAS pays fees. Here is how it works and how it is used, not the price.

Total value locked (DeFi)

n/a

Value locked in DeFi protocols on Neo. Updated Jun 2, 2026. Source: DefiLlama.

Native token

NEO

Used for fees and securing the network. See the live NEO price.

How it works

How Neo works.

NEO holders elect a set of consensus nodes that take turns proposing and validating blocks using dBFT, a Byzantine-fault-tolerant method that finalizes each block as it is produced. This gives fast, single-block finality.

Consensus: Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance (dBFT)

NEO holders elect a set of consensus nodes that take turns proposing and validating blocks using dBFT, a Byzantine-fault-tolerant method that finalizes each block as it is produced. This gives fast, single-block finality.

Smart economy

Neo is designed to bring digital assets, identity, and smart contracts together into one platform.

Dual-token model

NEO is the governance token and GAS is the fee token, generated by holding NEO.

dBFT consensus

Elected consensus nodes validate blocks with delegated Byzantine fault tolerance, finalizing each block as it is made.

NEO N3

The network launched its NEO N3 version in 2021, after starting as Antshares in 2014 and renaming to NEO in 2017.

Ecosystem & usage

What Neo is used for.

Neo is used for smart contracts, digital assets, and decentralized applications.

Smart contracts

Programmable applications and digital assets built on Neo.

Holding for GAS

Holding NEO to generate the GAS token used for fees.

Governance

Using NEO to vote for consensus nodes and network decisions.

In the Zypto App

Hold, swap and spend NEO.

Neo is integrated in the Zypto App. Hold NEO in self-custody, swap it to any supported asset, and use it across Zypto’s features.

Hold NEO in Zypto How to buy NEO

Be the reason Neo ships next.

Neo isn’t in the Zypto App yet. Post the request to your followers, chains with the most demand get prioritised.

Request on X

FAQ

Common questions.

What is the difference between NEO and GAS?

NEO is the governance token, and GAS is the fee token generated by holding NEO and used to pay transaction costs.

How does Neo reach consensus?

Neo uses delegated Byzantine fault tolerance, where elected consensus nodes validate blocks with fast finality.

What is NEO N3?

NEO N3 is the network 2021 version, following its start as Antshares in 2014 and rename to NEO in 2017.

Can I hold NEO in the Zypto App?

Not yet. NEO isn't in the Zypto App at the moment. You can hold it in any self-custodial wallet, and you can ask us to add Neo using the "Request Neo" button above.

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