Special Disclaimer: This article is an original work of Mankun Law Firm. It reflects only the personal views of the author and does not constitute legal consultation or legal advice on any specific matter.
Special Disclaimer:
This article is an original work of Mankun Law Firm. It reflects only the personal views of the author and does not constitute legal consultation or legal advice on any specific matter. For permission to reprint, please contact Mankun Law Firm staff at: MankunLawFirm
Introduction
Web3 Entrepreneurship: Conversations Every Wednesday!
"Web3.0 Entrepreneurship" is an interview program for Chinese Web3 entrepreneurs initiated by Mankun Law Firm. Every Wednesday evening, we invite industry leaders, frontline institutions, and renowned entrepreneurs to share their insights. Through positive discourse, rational discussion, and experience sharing, we aim to support the compliant development of China's Web3.0 industry.
In this episode, we have invited the community manager of "Crypto Er Gou," a well-known domestic NFT project, to share compelling stories about how NFT projects are launched and operated in China.
Welcome our guest, Purple Rose. Please introduce yourself to our audience.
Hello everyone, I am Purple Rose, a member of the Er Gou Community DAO.
Q1：How did you become involved with Crypto Er Gou?
Let me first share my understanding of profile picture (PFP) projects, which is closely related to how I became involved with Er Gou. When consortium blockchains were just beginning to develop in China, I was first introduced to the concept of PFPs. My impression of PFPs on public blockchains is that each PFP should possess complete commercial copyright and serve as a symbol of one's identity.
In November 2021, driven by major technology companies, both large and small platforms focused heavily on derivative-based models. I had been waiting for the emergence of a domestic PFP project that appealed to me, but none appeared at that time. Consequently, I had limited options. At that time, the only two PFP projects available domestically were "Crypto Xianyu" and "Crypto Xiaoming." I ultimately chose to collect a few units from the "Crypto Xiaoming" project released at that time, but that project has since been entirely destroyed.
Later, in late November 2021, I met several members in a Jingtan group chat. We studied daily how to snap up Jingtan offerings. Suddenly one day, a group member shared several screenshots featuring a pixelated Shiba Inu image that was vivid and adorable. It was on that day that I learned of a platform in the crypto space, and this pixelated Shiba Inu was called Crypto Ergou.
Q2: How did you become involved in this project?
At that time, major tech companies were issuing derivative products, typically releasing around 10,000 units per derivative launch. However, what I sought were copyrighted collectibles, a concept not yet established domestically at the time. The creator of Ergou had listed a total of 40 items, each priced at approximately RMB 49 to RMB 59. I shared my idea in our chat group: if this Shiba Inu collection could reach 10,000 units, would it not constitute a PFP (Profile Picture) project? Without knowing the creator at the time, we formed the idea that since there were no PFP projects we liked on the market, we would create and operate one ourselves.
Q3: The creator of Ergou is highly mysterious. Everyone has heard of him, but no one has seen him in the group chats, leading some to doubt his existence. Could you please tell us about this creator?
First, the creator undoubtedly exists as a real person, but no one in the community knows his identity; only members of the Ergou Board of Directors are aware. Maintaining the creator's mystique was a deliberate design choice at the project's inception. Specifically, when the initial issuance comprised only 40 dog characters, we intentionally isolated the creator from the community.
We employed a rather ingenious method to contact the creator. Since it was impossible to reach the creator through the platform's built-in system, we changed the profile description on the Crypto Space platform to "Ergou Creator, We Are Looking for You" and included my personal WeChat ID. Approximately two days later, we successfully established contact with the creator.
Q4: How many Ergou NFTs are currently in circulation?
Following the completion of the fifth blind box series, the total supply stands at 4,790 units. The creator has completed nearly half of the planned artwork.
Q5: During this process, did the creator ever express that he was unable to continue creating?
In our project introduction, we stated that while we planned to issue 10,000 units, market changes and creative difficulties might prevent us from reaching that target. However, for a project, having only a few hundred units would obviously result in insufficient liquidity. With 5,000 units, the difference in liquidity compared to 10,000 units is not significant. Therefore, I believe there is no need to be overly concerned about the exact quantity at this stage.
Q6: What role do you play in the Ergou community participation and governance? What are your daily responsibilities?
At this current stage, I have indeed undertaken substantial work within the community, and many consider me one of the operational leads of the project. However, I consistently position myself as a player, because this project requires collective co-construction rather than being sustained by any single individual or a few board members. My role in the community is akin to an organizer, mobilizing players to co-build the community.
Q7: Could you introduce the current points system of the Ergou Community?
We adopt the DoDo points system to incentivize community members to co-build the community through points, where your total points reflect your contributions to the community. We have pinned the corresponding formula on DoDo, which clearly specifies how many points are awarded for each type of work. For example, if a player compiles the whitelist, they receive 5 "dog food" points; if a player writes an article for the Ergou official WeChat account, they receive 15 "dog food" points.
The advantage of using DoDo is that every issuance of points is recorded and the records are immutable. Therefore, if a player secretly adds points to their own account, it can be easily identified by checking the backend ledger.
Q8: Who is currently responsible for the points system in the Ergou Community?
Initially, I was responsible for it. Currently, the task of issuing points has been handed over to other administrators on the Board. Our administrator, known as Lao Wang, is responsible for reviewing and issuing points.
Q9: What role does the Board, which you have mentioned multiple times, play in the Ergou Community?
The Board’s mechanism functions essentially as a centralized DAO. Non-Board members of the community have the right to raise issues, but the decision on whether to implement any action rests with the Board members. We designed this structure with decision-making efficiency in mind. In our two years of operations, more than 90% of matters were trivial and did not require notification to the entire community. For example, when planning a recent offline exhibition, we customized promotional KT boards, tablecloths, badges, and other items. Such matters do not need to be notified to the community because aesthetic preferences vary among individuals, and seeking everyone’s opinion would significantly reduce decision-making efficiency.
Additionally, more than 5% of matters are relatively important and may require discussion by the Board to determine feasibility.
The remaining 1% may affect the community’s interests, and such matters require consultation with the community. Regarding how such consultation is conducted, we recently conducted a trial vote using the token-holding identity group.
After the Shanghai exhibition, our DAO faced a significant shortage of funds. We hoped to increase the DAO fund’s revenue. During this launch, approximately four whitelist spots remained, and we considered selling these whitelist spots to generate additional income. However, past experience shows that if projects involving speculative trading of images begin selling whitelist spots, it often signals that the project team may abscond with the funds, which would severely damage the project’s reputation. Therefore, we conducted a vote within the community to gauge the opinions of all token holders. More than 30 people participated in the vote, with two voting against the proposal. Although the majority voted in favor, after assessing the risks associated with selling whitelist spots, the Board decided not to proceed. We concluded that it was not worth tarnishing the project’s reputation for the sake of a few hundred yuan.
Q10: From the perspective of historical revenue from Ergou NFT launches, will a portion of the funds be allocated as operational capital for the community?
Currently, no funds are allocated for this purpose. The Ergou project differs from others in that it relies on hand-drawn artwork, with labor costs constituting the major expense. The author’s role in this project is that of an artist. He can currently produce approximately 300 drawings every three months. With a launch price of RMB 99.99 per piece, selling all 300 drawings would generate roughly RMB 30,000. After the platform takes a 30% commission, the net revenue from 300 drawings is approximately RMB 20,000, meaning his monthly income would be around RMB 7,000–8,000. If we were to appropriate these funds, the artist would likely be unable to continue producing work. Therefore, we currently do not touch the revenue from launches, and we likely will not do so in the future.
Q11: Has the commercialization of Er Gou’s copyrights generated any revenue for the community to date?
This is an area we are currently exploring. Every member of the community, including myself, is seeking ways to create value beyond simply selling assets. Recently, we collaborated with Midspell, a company that sells prints to business clients. The owner of Midspell is a friend of our community. Under this arrangement, the copyright to a artwork is sold at a low price in a one-time transaction for the purpose of producing physical merchandise. Of the resulting sales revenue, 35% is distributed to token holders, 5% belongs to Er Gou’s DAO treasury, and the remainder goes to Midspell. The license granted for each such sale is valid for six months. During this period, the licensee may use the authorization to produce items such as phone cases with printed designs. Any subsequent matters related to the sale of these printed phone cases are unrelated to Er Gou’s token holders.
Of course, this initiative is still in an exploratory phase. I hope that Er Gou will become not only a Web3 IP but also a well-known IP in Web2. My view of the industry is that the way for a project to achieve a true closed loop is through copyright licensing. Until new models are developed, we will continue to operate in this manner, although we remain open to trying better approaches if they emerge.
Q12: Could you please introduce the themes of the different Er Gou series, and highlight their commonalities or differences?
We do not artificially define series; instead, we categorize based on the actual content of each artwork. We have not established rarity tiers, and prices are determined by player consensus.
Currently, we have broadly summarized Er Gou into several major series. The first and most popular series features the original yellow Shiba Inu image, typically set against a solid gold-yellow background. Because this depiction is simple and clean, it is also referred to as the “Naked Dog.” Due to its popularity and aesthetic appeal, prices for this series tend to be higher.
The second series is Identity Dog. The dog’s image may emulate famous individuals, paintings, or statues; however, the author does not define what is being depicted when creating the work, as such definitions are established by players at a later stage.
The third series is the “Fruit Dog” series, where the dog is adorned with or mimics fruits, such as Strawberry Dog, Orange Dog, and so on.
The fourth category is the “Animal Dog” series, in which the dog portrays other animals, commonly by wearing the skins of other animals, such as Monkey Dog, Fox Dog, etc.
The fifth category features dogs portrayed as everyday objects, such as cars, beverages, bread, and the like.
The sixth category features dogs portrayed as characters from famous scenes.
The seventh category includes various other images.
The most important point is that all Er Gou illustrations are hand-drawn. Therefore, more visually appealing and interesting Er Gou illustrations command higher prices, regardless of the series to which they belong; aesthetic appeal is the primary determinant of value.
Q13: Will factions or cliques emerge among players?
Currently, no such divisions exist. Consensus among players is limited to pricing.
Q14: What offline events have been held under the Er Gou IP?
The market event at Super Brand Mall in Shanghai marked our first formal offline activity. Preparation for this market took approximately one month, covering details ranging from booth design to coordinating logistics services such as Huolala. In addition, we participated in two smaller-scale offline exhibitions, held in March–April and June–July of this year, respectively.participated in small-scale exhibitions.
Q15: Are the Er Gou merchandise items sold at the offline market offered as a one-time sale, or will they be available on an ongoing basis?
Currently, these items are offered as a one-time sale. However, should similar market or booth activities be organized in the future, we intend to continue selling merchandise.
Q16: Could you please introduce the gameplay mechanics of Vicious Dog Raid? Additionally, was the game’s code developed entirely by members of the Er Gou team?
The initial rationale for designing this game was to increase community engagement, with the aim of migrating users from WeChat chat groups to the DoDo community.
The game draws inspiration from a project called “Big Goose” on the Conflux Chain. Due to limited coding resources, the current version remains relatively simple, comprising approximately 2,000 lines of code. Our community developers have iterated through approximately five versions to date.
The gameplay is straightforward. Between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 a.m. each day, an animated GIF featuring a black vicious dog holding dog food appears at random intervals of 30 to 70 minutes. A clickable button is displayed below the image. The first user to click becomes eligible for a random reward distribution, which may consist of 3, 5, or 10 units of dog food, with 10 units being the least probable outcome. If a user is fortunate enough to receive 10 units of dog food, the system additionally grants an “Ultimate Lucky Player” achievement. This achievement serves solely as an honorary symbol for lucky players and confers no functional benefits. Conversely, if a user encounters the “Chairman” character during gameplay, the Chairman will launch a backstab attack while the user is battling the boss. As a result, the user not only fails to obtain dog food but also loses 1 unit of dog food. To avoid this loss, users may opt into a paid subscription system by purchasing a one-month VIP membership using RMB or dog food. With VIP status, users are immune to counterattacks by the Chairman.
From the players’ perspective, the game appears simple; in reality, the underlying code logic is highly complex and entails a substantial development workload.
We have also developed a variety of digital collectibles tools. For example, we converted transaction data broadcasts from X-meta and Jingtan into line charts, generating a combined X-meta–Jingtan transaction report every two hours. These reports feature displays of the Er Gou PFP collection. When Jingtan users view these reports and share them with friends, this achieves our intended promotional effect for Er Gou.
In addition, we developed a holdings-verification system within the DoDo platform. After integrating Xiwu with DoDo, we carried out secondary programming development. Players who hold an Er Gou asset and link their Xiwu account are automatically verified: a bot scans the community every thirty minutes, automatically granting verification status to unverified members and immediately revoking verification if an Er Gou asset has been sold or hidden from display. This enables real-time, dynamic management of current community holders, ensuring that benefits are distributed exclusively to genuine Er Gou holders.
Furthermore, we disabled DoDo’s built-in referral system and developed an alternative referral mechanism. No points are awarded merely for referring a new user; however, if the referred user remains actively engaged in the community and becomes a genuine player, points are allocated according to DoDo’s community tier system. Each time the referred user advances a tier, the bot automatically credits points to the referrer, reflecting the referrer’s sustained contributions to the community.
We also implemented an automated muting system. Users who spam the community channels are automatically muted by the bot. Although each mute period is brief, all muting actions are publicly announced in the chat channels, ensuring transparency.
All of the aforementioned code development was undertaken by community board members during their spare time.
Q17: What online activities has Er Gou conducted? Which activity left the deepest impression on you?
In May 2022, our creation progress exceeded 20%, reaching 2,000 Er Gou assets. During this initial phase, the artist worked at a rapid pace. We sold approximately 20 Er Gou assets per business day. Sales were not conducted via blind boxes; instead, assets were allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
In July 2022, our community held its first beauty contest. Our initial concept was to commercialize the winning Er Gou assets by launching a Taobao store to sell apparel and distributing the proceeds to holders. However, at that time Er Gou was a relatively obscure project, and apparel sales were poor.
In August 2022, we launched the first series of corporate blind boxes. After incorporating a company and executing a contract with Xiwu, we transitioned from individual creators to a project entity, albeit only in name at that stage.
In September 2022, we held the first meme contest, using limited DAO funds to provide prizes for participants. The first prize was a Wang Wang gift pack, the second prize comprised ten packs of Weilong spicy strips, and the third prize consisted of two trays of Wang Zai milk.
In November 2022, we issued the second series of encrypted Er Gou blind boxes.
In March 2023, the third series of blind boxes was released;
In April 2023, a notable event occurred: one holder of Crypto Doge deleted their account, resulting in the corresponding NFT being irretrievably lost (i.e., sent to a "black hole" address). The community held a memorial ceremony. In addition, we participated in a trendy art exhibition and launched version 1.0 of the "Vicious Dog Raid" game.
In May 2023, we participated in the online CV Metaverse Art Exhibition;
In June 2023, we released the fourth series of Crypto Doge blind boxes and initiated co-creation campaigns for "Da Vinci's Egg" and Crypto Doge emojis. We also engaged in the "Summer Golden Shine" gaming competition with five other PFP communities;
Over the past three months, we have undertaken substantial work. Since the last release, we have developed three new community features: (1) position verification for the DoDo community; (2) market data updates for X-Meta Jingtan; and (3) real-time listing monitoring for X-Meta Jingtan.
During these three months, we conducted promotional campaigns for six project teams, providing a total of 105 whitelist spots and 10 physical prizes to the community. We also organized the online "I Draw" campaign for Crypto Doge, held an offline exhibition at K11, and participated in a bazaar at Super Brand Mall two weeks ago.
Q18: Are many of the Crypto Doge emojis currently circulated originated from the emoji design competition?
These emojis are primarily created by users themselves, not solely for competitions. Often, after purchasing a Crypto Doge NFT, users independently commission or create emojis on platforms such as Taobao. Thus, their creation is not necessarily tied to participation in any specific event.
Q19: What is the auction process for Crypto Doge?
We organize auctions with each release. Two categories of NFTs are auctioned: (1) Artist-signed editions, which are rare (currently approximately 20 exist), with an average release of one per auction. Thirty percent (30%) of the proceeds from signed-edition auctions are allocated to the DAO treasury, and the remaining seventy percent (70%) goes to the artist. (2) Two NFTs selected from those redeemable via DAO points are also auctioned, with one hundred percent (100%) of the proceeds allocated to the DAO treasury.
Q20: What are the future plans for Crypto Doge?
We currently plan to collaborate with a well-known PFP project to issue an airdrop of non-transferable commemorative NFTs. However, we are not yet at liberty to disclose the identity of the collaborating project.
About the Author:
Zise Qiangwei: Member of Crypto Ergou DAO
Edited by: Zhuang Siting
Paralegal at Mankun Law Firm; currently pursuing graduate studies at the International Law School of East China University of Political Science and Law. Research interests include compliance for blockchain digital assets, cybercrime, and other emerging legal services.
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