For all those who have been around the crypto space
For all those who have been around the crypto space for some time now, it is hardly a secret that Ethereum is an important name around here.
Although it has fallen from its pride of place at the second spot of crypto rankings (based on total market cap), it still remains supremely relevant in the world of cryptocurrencies.
Therefore, when another platform is dubbed the “Chinese Ethereum”, one can’t help but sit up and take not. NEO is the platform that has been touted as “Chinese Ethereum”, immediately garnering a great deal of attention from the crypto world.
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In our beginner’s guide to NEO Coin, we had also briefly explained how the NEO platform underlying the cryptocurrency works so you might want to take a quick look at that article so you have the basics in place.
Now, the NEO blockchain platform and the allied crypto coin that comes with it does a lot that is similar to Ethereum, like hosting dApps, smart contracts and more.
So naturally its utility is rather high. Keeping that fact in mind, let’s take a quick look at the pros and cons of NEO.
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Pros of NEO
1. Energy Efficient Consensus Mechanism
NEO uses a rather interesting form of consensus protocol called the delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance System or dBFT, considered to be an improved upon its inspiration Ethereum’s Proof of Work consensus protocol.
The dBFT is considered to be far more energy efficient than most of the older consensus mechanisms and this factor seems to give NEO an edge.
2. Ease of Developers
As NEO can be written using languages like C+ and Java with Python and Go support soon on the cards, it becomes easy for more and more blockchain developers to join the bandwagon.
Writing smart contracts on Ethereum requires one to know Solidity, a slightly more complicated language. Hence, NEO is a more accessible platform for developers.
3. Speed
NEO can process roughly 1000 transactions each and every second.
This high speed gives it an extremely high degree of efficiency which is capable of boosting adoption.
4. Backing By the Chinese Government and Investors
The Government of China has hardly been too forthcoming about support for crypto. However, NEO is a platform for which sufficient levels of governmental support has been observed.
Having a strong governmental backing and support from investors ensures longevity of a platform.
Cons of NEO
1. Lack of Popularity Among a Western Audience
The Chinese roots of NEO has served to render it unrelatable for a Western, English-speaking audience.
Since such a large chunk of blockchain and crypto enthusiastic population live in the West, this can pose major problems for adoption.
2. Competition
NEO has taken on a mighty competitor like Ethereum that already has a loyal user base and an established reputation.
Moreover, new competition is also coming up every now and then. That makes NEO’s struggle for survival more acute. In such a backdrop, we wonder if simply having blockchain smart contracts and dApps would cut it.
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