How to buy NEO

NEO is unlike bitcoin. Where bitcoin uses the blockchain to validate transactions, NEO uses the blockchain to digitize assets, use smart contracts, and achieve a ‘smart economy’ based on a distributed network. NEO allows assets like cars, TVs, and even clothes to be digitized into digital assets so that smart contracts can operate on them. A smart contract is a programming that gets triggered either manually or in some other way by a change in a digital asset. The contract enforces rules that can change the digital asset in some way – for example, perhaps by changing its owner. NEO is much more than another coin.

NEO has 100 million tokens and NEO does not support mining, so the only way to get NEO is to buy it at an exchange. However, NEO generates a dividend payment called GAS that we describe after how to buy NEO.

Buying NEO

Various exchanges allow you to trade USD or another fiat for NEO, or trade other coins like bitcoin for NEO. The following lists the exchanges – the codes in brackets are the currencies you can trade NEO in:

• Anycoindirect.eu (Fiat)
• BigONE (BTC)
• Binance (BTC/GAS)
• Bitfinex (USD/BTC/ETH)
• Bittrex (BTC/ETH/USDT)
• CoinEgg (BTC)
• Coinnest (KRW/GAS)
• CoinSpot (AUD)
• CoinSwitch (BTC)
• CoolCoin (BTC)
• co.nz (BTC/LTC/DODGE)
• Exrates.me (BTC/USDT)
• io (USDT/GAS)
• Huobi (BTC/GAS)
• KuCoin (BTC/GAS/BTC)
• LBank (BTC)
• OKEX (BTC/ETH/USD/GAS)
• Quoine (BTC/USD)

Understanding NEO and GAS

As mentioned earlier, holding NEO generates another token called NeoGAS, or just GAS – think of this as a dividend payment. A NEO token acts like a share that allows you to eventually vote for certain changes. Holding a NEO token also has the advantage of NEO generating GAS. GAS is used to fuel the blockchain. Think of it like this – when you transfer bitcoin from one wallet to another, you get charged a transaction fee. This transaction fee is GAS in NEO – all NEO has done is separate its token from the token that powers the blockchain. The NEO transaction fee is currently zero, so where does GAS come from? GAS comes from paying for certain transactions and to deploy smart contracts and dApps on the NEO blockchain. GAS can be traded on exchanges so you can sell it for bitcoin or even fiat making GAS like a dividend for holding NEO. There will only be 100 million GAS tokens created over 22 years – after that, the voting privileges become more important because they’ll determine things like the transaction fee (which is currently zero).

So getting GAS for NEO is better than mining since all you do is hold NEO. You need to make sure you use one of the official wallets to get GAS since many exchanges’ wallets don’t pay GAS at all. One of the wallets you can use is called NEON (https://github.com/CityOfZion/neon-wallet/releases) – it accepts GAS. Another wallet, online this time, is NEO Tracker (https://neotracker.io/wallet) – this wallet allows you to claim GAS, according to their FAQ. Another online wallet you can use is the NEO Wallet (https://neowallet.cn/); however, you’ll have some work to do to receive your GAS – it’s not automatic like it is in the NEON and NEO Tracker wallets. A mobile option for Android users is the NEO App 1.2.1; this wallet allows you to claim GAS as well. One exchange, which pays GAS is Binance. At Binance they pay GAS once per month on NEO balances.

Conclusion

This article described NEO, how it’s different from bitcoin, explained how to buy NEO and then explained in detail how NEO GAS works and how it’s beneficial to you.