NEO, formerly known as AntShares, has been dubbed the Ethereum of China. Along with Qtum, it has one of China’s most successful crypto currencies. It is also China’s first open source blockchain.

Much like Ethereum, NEO uses a general purpose blockchain and runs smart contracts on it. Smart contracts aim to obliterate the traditional paper-based contract law. According to a definition by Nick Szabo, legal scholar and computer scientist known for his pioneering research into digital contracts and currencies, a smart contract is a computer function that can automatically execute the terms of a contract. To put it in simple terms, smart contracts help exchange money, property, shares, or anything of value in a transparent way without relying on a middleman, be it a lawyer, a broker or any other third party.

“Blockchain technology provides us with a decentralized, tamper-resistant, highly reliable system in which smart contracts are very useful,” NEO’s founder Da Hongfei told TechNode.

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