Hey @heiditravels, nice overview of NEO. I'm really not familiar with it since it never interested me, but here are some things you should probably know about some of the points you make here.
Firstly, quantum-proof cryptography isn't a new field, and it's more of a gimmick than a feature. Even the best commercial quantum computers right now are ~2000 qubits, and would need to double to 4000 qubits and about 100 million gates in order to break 2048-RSA. The D-Wave computer I'm talking about is also using quantum annealing, which introduces significant nuance to their qubit number. There is an extremely high error rate, even with the best computer out there, and we are about 10-20 years away from approaching breaking encryption used in crypto. Many experts even say 20-30 years.
Even if quantum-proofing your encryption was a relevant concern, Vitalik has stated before that it is not a particularly difficult thing to do on Ethereum, it's just not necessary right now and there's no point in using less efficient algos for no reason.
Secondly, being able to create smart contracts in other languages is not all it's cracked up to be. If it was a simple and doable thing, why would Solidity need to be made in the first place? There's numerous security risks associated with supporting multiple languages, and auditing could become an even worse nightmare than it is now on Ethereum. Additionally, Solidity isn't the only language for Ethereum. You should look into Viper (Vitalik is actively helping to develop it). I assume you're not a developer, or else you'd be aware that Solidity isn't that hard of a language to learn. Programmers often know several languages, and the syntax in Solidity is quirky at times, but already very similar to other established languages. The opcodes that the EVM use are extremely robust, so C/C++/C#, Java, Go, etc libraries could absolutely be created to use it. Again, this is a gimmick.
As far as my opinions go, dBFT is utter BS. Doesn't matter how shareholders are elected, this is centralization and the possibility of collusion now exists. Why would anybody want to use decentralized systems if they go back and add the issues we worked hard to get away from.
In short, NEO does have some interesting ideas, but they aren't different or interesting enough to rival Ethereum in any way.
Valid points made here, thank you for the additional info. I wonder what your thoughts are on Steem's delegated proof of stake then?
I see the need for it here since there's significant amounts of data being stored. It's also not a general-purpose blockchain designed for smart contracts, so accepting some centralization greatly improves the specific application.