China new smart economy based on gold, oil, cryptocurrency NEO
I trade cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ETH and NEO. This is not investment advice. I think the timeline below shows a legal (but not completely obvious) strategy of Chinese government to kickstart their new economy. Since writing this on 9-11-17, I have since learned that NEO is a very good investment because you can reap dividends simply by holding it. Do your own research and "due diligence".
Fall of 2016: Antshares ICO. Precursor to NEO trades higher as they collaborate with crowdfunding platform WINGS, Microsoft Azure, Alibaba, OKCoin, and others.
June 2017: rebranding to NEO. Enters top 20 cryptoasset list. "[Announced] authentication work with Chinese authorities to map real-world assets with smart contracts. The company also has numerous patents, including ones for cross-chain interoperability. It’s partnered with numerous blockchain projects, like Bancor, Agrello, Coindash and Binance. Source: https://hacked.com/token-analysis-neo-formerly-antshares-chinas-ethereum/
June 22, 2017 Major players commit to develop NEO: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/antshares-rebrands-introduces-neo-and-new-smart-economy1/
July 2017, Microsoft's Beijing HQ: Govt sponsored conference w/ over 200 contributors focused on mapping real-world assets using smart contracts to build a "new economy". http://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/bloggers/whats-big-deal-chinas-first-open-source-blockchain-platform-neo/
8-13-17, NEO hits all-time high of 52.63 USD. https://moneymorning.com/2017/08/17/why-the-neo-price-has-soared-more-than-37000-in-2017/
8-16-17: "NEO seemingly has approval from the Chinese government – having attended a government-sponsored industry conference, which could bode well for the blockchain project."
https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/chinas-ethereum-neo-soars-amid-crypto-market-slump/
8-19-17: Binance distributes gas to NEO users. https://cointelegraph.com/news/chinas-leading-exchange-distributing-gas-to-those-with-neo
9-6/17: Binance responds (of course) to requests from Peoples Bank of China and various government offices to upgrade their system, restrict trading of certain coins, and assist in the refund of recent ICO investors.
https://binance.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001444731-Binance-Update-2017-09-06
9-10-17: Binance open letter to NEO community:
https://binance.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000608671-Binance-Open-Letter-to-NEO-Community
One piece of key information I left for last... Google search results..... Chinese government working to circumvent the Petro dollar, articles range from May 2017 to last week, from a variety of sources.
My conclusion is this: NEO (and the entire cryptocurrency market) has been manipulated by press releases that are true but not completely transparent to allow Chinese government and banking investment into their new economy at a bargain price.