Neo Council lowers Council Registration fee as part of broader governance reform strategy

The Neo Council has voted to reduce the registration fee for Council candidacy from 1,000 GAS to 750 GAS, effective Thursday, Nov. 19. The decision – signed by COZ, Nash, Flamingo, Everstake, Neo SPCC, NEXT, Neo News Today, Neo Global Development, InfStones, and AxLabs – forms part of a broader governance initiative aimed at increasing accessibility, competition, and accountability within the Neo Council.

The fee reduction follows a decision made at the Centre Point meetup held in Singapore in September, and reflects an early step in a broader effort to promote inclusivity within Neo’s governance framework. While modest, the update signals a gesture of good faith toward aspiring Council participants, helping lower the barrier to entry for those who may seek candidacy.

Flattening of GAS rewards

Efforts are also underway to flatten GAS rewards so voters are not penalized for backing candidates outside the ranked positions. Today, NEO token holders do not receive GAS rewards for votes cast outside the top 21, a structure that discourages support for newcomers and entrenches incumbents.

At Centre Point, Council members agreed in principle to move toward a flattened model, with the Core Development team to determine the safest, most technically sound implementation path.

The current roll-out plan includes:

• Proof-of-node: require any candidate eligible for a top-7 consensus seat to run an active node, reducing the risk of consensus disruption by underprepared members.
• Flatten within the Council: equalise GAS rewards across sitting Council members so voters can choose freely without sacrificing returns.
• Extend beyond the top 21: broaden flattening so votes for any registered candidate carry equal reward potential.

The goals are to let token holders vote their preference without losing rewards, increase competition among Council members, and create a credible path for new entrants based on service quality and community engagement.

Governance platform in development

A new governance platform is also in development to formalize proposal submission, Council voting, and community participation. The MVP, led by the Flamingo team, is available for testing and feedback via the #council-and-core channel in the official Neo Discord. The initial release focuses on Council member node-claiming, account registration, and proposal submission with threaded discussion.

Longer term, the platform is designed to serve as a transparent, inclusive hub for governance. Council members will gain visibility into token-holder sentiment through discussion activity and, over time, token-weighted preference signals. Token holders will be able to evaluate Council participation via activity logs and voting histories, helping them make more informed decisions. By lowering the friction to propose, discuss, and review decisions, the initiative is aimed at improving transparency and strengthening decentralized participation across the ecosystem.

A follow-up Neo Council call is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 25, to continue discussions on Centre Point deliverables and other governance matters. The session will be recorded and made publicly available.