Neo Foundation teases surprising Neo3 features: file storage and digital identity

In an open letter today to Neo community members, the Neo Foundation reflected on the past four years of activity and teased their plans for the future: Neo3, the third iteration of their smart contract-enabled blockchain, which will sport file storage and D-ID (Digital or Decentralized Identity) features. 

Neo, the 22nd largest cryptocurrency by marketcap, has enjoyed a strong year, having successfully launched a cross-chain interoperability product in collaboration with Ontology and Switcheo. 

Additionally the self-styled “smart economy” platform’s foray into the summer DeFi craze was similarly successful -- the joint Binance and Neo effort Flamingo Finance peaked at over $1.5 billion TVL in their Mint Rush yield farming vault product. 

In spite of their success with interoperability and DeFi, as the Foundation’s letter turned to future developments they teased forthcoming features which would take Neo3 in a pair of surprising new directions: file storage and decentralized identity features named NeoFS and NeoID. 

The market has demonstrated a decidedly mixed appetite for file storage on the blockchain. Filecoin, another data storage-centered product whose FIL token went live October 15th, rallied violently to the tune of 118%, prior to an equally savage dump of nearly 80% from all-time highs. 

Digital (or decentralized) identity blockchain products have also seen stymied adoption. While identity on the blockchain presents a clear use case, no one project has yet broken mainstream. 

Despite not being in vogue, the Neo Foundation wrote that they hope these features will lead to greater adoption across the space:

“Together with vast new features and enhancements in system security and performance, Neo3 will surely become the ideal next-gen internet infrastructure for mass adoption.”