A Look at the NEO Price Surge

The so-called Xi Pump started when Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke out on behalf of cryptocurrencies recently. One of the most notable effects was the NEO price rise. Why did this particular token enjoy such a strong run on the markets?

How Did NEO Perform?

The NEO coin rose by some 45% on one day (Sunday). This was far ahead of the overall market, which slowed down slightly after the initial rally. The overall value of cryptocurrencies rose by over $50 billion in the days leading up to Sunday, but no other token could sustain its momentum like NEO.

The NEO price shot up to over $12, reaching as high as $12.24 before dropping back slightly. This maximum represented its highest price since July of this year. It also confirmed its position as the 18^th biggest cryptocurrency on the market.

The trading volume of NEO increased by $1 billion in a 24-hour period during this surge. Other Chinese currencies that also benefitted from the Xi Pump included Ontology (ONG), Nebulas (NAS).

More About the NEO Price

Sometimes called the Chinese Ethereum, this is a blockchain platform that may have been boosted more than others, due to its links with the Asian giant. It is considered to be similar to Ethereum in the way that it lets users create smart contracts and dApps. However, some analysts suggest that it may be more scalable than Ethereum in the long term.

Another factor is the NEO 3.0 upgrade that is in the pipeline. In the lead-up to this price rally, the currency’s co-founders – Da Hongfei and Erik Zhang – held a question and answer session on Reddit.The reaction to this interview session has been seen as hugely positive. The co-founders appear to have convinced many of the people who listened to their answers on the subject.

For example, Zhang confirmed that they should get up to a speed of 20,000 transactions per second quickly after the upgrade. He pointed out that he thinks that the number stated should “not be difficult to reach.”

The Future of NEO

It is also worth noting that the people behind the platform didn’t quell rumours of a possible link-up with a future Chinese national digital currency. Zhang pointed out that “NEO is not a currency. It’s a platform”. He went on to say that their new cross-chain technology “may make it easier for various digital currencies to circulate on NEO”.

At the moment, it isn’t clear how high the NEO price could reach. It has been suggested that it may eventually replace Ethereum (ETH) as the second biggest token, but there is still some way to go before this happens.