Foreigners as frontmen: an alternative business model in the crypto circle
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Foreigners as frontmen: an alternative business model in the crypto circle
East meets West, everyone makes money together.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy: Yanz, TechFlow
During the Bitcoin Asia event in Hong Kong, Binance founder CZ and Donald Trump's son Eric Trump took the stage one after another—this conference was meant to belong only to elites and big names in the crypto world.
Yet the real showstopper was a white T-shirt emblazoned with four Chinese characters: "Lao Wai Zhan Tai" ("foreigners on stage").
The person wearing it had a Western face.
When he stood side by side with Zhao Changpeng for a photo amid the crowd, questions flooded in from every camera:
Who is he? And what kind of business is "Lao Wai Zhan Tai"?
Foreigners in Crypto
The eye-catching foreigner’s name is Dane, founder of 4am global, a crypto-focused agency.
After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in computer science, a trip connected him to China—and he ended up staying for thirteen years. In his own words: "If I didn’t like it here, I would’ve left long ago."
Like countless Chinese university graduates, Dane was once a "northern drift" expat, working as an "overseas ox-rider" at tech and internet companies in Beijing. Years of living here not only made him fluent in Chinese but also deeply familiar with local customs and social dynamics—he even became a fan of TV dramas like *Empresses in the Palace* and *Home Coming's Temptation*.
Toward the end of 2017, the ICO boom ignited a bull market in cryptocurrencies, and Dane officially entered the Chinese-speaking crypto community.
"Lao Wai Zhan Tai" refers to a unique service model in the crypto space: providing foreign representatives for Chinese blockchain projects to enhance their international image and credibility. In English, this practice is known as White Monkey. But according to Dane, it involves far more than just putting a "white face" on display—it’s a full suite of services including international branding, resource connections, and market communication.
"Many people think we only do 'foreigner on stage' packaging, but in fact, we’re a fully foreign team, and 80% of our clients are from European and American projects," he said.
This business began with Dane’s personal experience in 2018, when he did overseas BD for a Chinese public chain and personally stepped in as a representative. As he delved deeper into the industry, Dane realized: Chinese projects have ample funding, strong technology, and rich exchange resources, but lack international image, market sensitivity, and cross-cultural communication skills.
Combined with China’s long-term tightening regulation on the crypto sector—from banning ICOs and closing exchanges in 2017 to completely halting crypto trading and mining in 2021—many founders became reluctant to appear publicly. Thus, “finding a foreign expert to speak on behalf” became a genuine need.
And so, the "Lao Wai Zhan Tai" business emerged. Dane recalled that at a conference in Hong Kong, numerous Chinese projects approached him seeking such services. "Roughly at least 50% of Chinese project teams have this demand," he said, adding that even major exchanges invited him to serve as CEO.
"At first I thought it was absurd, but after researching further, I found the demand actually makes sense."
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White Monkey
There is nothing new under the sun.
Ten years ago, during the peak of China’s real estate boom, renting out “Western faces” was already widespread. As The New York Times wrote at the time: “Stuffing foreigners into remote buildings, even for just one day, is enough to prove it’s ‘international.’”
Muji mattresses used the face of a British model to craft a story about “DeRucci, a French designer from 1868,” selling thousand-yuan mattresses for tens of thousands. It wasn’t until right before its IPO that the SEC exposed the truth: it was merely a 2009 portrait rights agreement—the alleged French heritage was entirely fabricated.
This kind of branding has a fixed term in the West: White Monkey.
The industry has existed for half a century—any white person, almost regardless of skill, could appear on stages, in offices, or advertisements playing roles like “foreign executive,” “company spokesperson,” or “Western expert.”
On Reddit, many foreigners shared their past experiences being hired as White Monkeys in East Asia:
As The Spectator reported in 2022: "Men and women of white ethnicity can be hired as office staff without actual duties, simply to create a more refined international atmosphere."
This “atmosphere economy” thrives equally in the crypto industry.
During the 2017 ICO bull run, projects could raise funds with just a whitepaper. Alex’s team not only ghostwrote whitepapers but also offered “foreign actor” services. "Back then, you could easily raise tens of thousands of ETH just by grabbing any white international student outside BFSU or BISU and making them CEO," he still marvels at how wild those days were.
There were even cases where Chinese teams hired white male models from Shanghai nightclubs as CEOs, only for the models to seize control of the project under the banner of DAO, kicking out the original team. With support from Middle Eastern capital, the project’s market cap once reached $7 billion.
It’s not just amateurs.
In 2020, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was hired by a Chinese-led team to launch a cryptocurrency called WOZX, which briefly hit a $1 billion market cap—now down to just $1 million, nearly zero.
In 2025, former Serbian President Boris Tadić confirmed on X that he served as CEO of a certain token foundation, while insiders revealed the token’s core team was based in Hong Kong.
Argentine President Milei faced scandal earlier this year after promoting the $LIBRA token on social media, later scrambling to distance himself—the incident dubbed his “first major scandal” by The Economist.
In Alex’s view, “Lao Wai Zhan Tai” has continuously evolved.
Initially, it was just photos and videos—easy to fake. But as the ICO bubble burst, retail investors became harder to fool, and the “on-stage” model entered version 2.0: the real boss remains Chinese, but executives like CEO are filled by foreigners. These individuals are no longer mere actors—they at least possess speaking skills, BD (business development) capabilities, and bring stronger market credibility. "East meets West, everyone profits together."
As for why, Alex bluntly states the main reasons: regulatory and compliance pressures force founders to stay hidden, while retail investor bias plays a key role.
In China, Japan, and South Korea, people generally associate Western faces with “internationalization,” while local projects are easily labeled as “scam schemes” or “homegrown dogs.” For many projects, lacking a respectable international image means difficulty securing VC or exchange investment, and winning over retail users.
Under this perception, Dane has witnessed many absurd scenes: during the pandemic, many scam schemes and low-tier projects would simply hire an international student as CEO and send them on city-to-city roadshows—switching to a new “foreigner” in each new city.
"One CEO per city—absolutely ridiculous. If a project has real substance, they should hire a truly capable foreigner," he said directly.
Only after diving deep into operations did Dane realize that “Lao Wai Zhan Tai” is far more complex than just hiring a foreigner for photos. Language barriers, cultural differences, time zones, relationship management—all make direct understanding between Chinese teams and foreign talent extremely difficult. Compared to simply using a foreign face for endorsement, sustaining international presence requires professional intermediaries who continuously mediate and manage relationships.
Being the Middleman Isn't Easy
Working as a “foreign middleman” in crypto, Dane admits the challenges are greater than expected. Language barriers, cultural gaps, and time differences make it hard for Chinese teams and foreign talents to understand each other directly.
The first step is always “matching needs.” Some projects seek experts familiar with DeFi or RWA; others require candidates to reside in specific countries or cities. Dane must constantly negotiate between both sides. "Some requests are reasonable, others are pure fantasy—if there are too many conditions, we really can’t help."
Over the past three years, Dane has attended conferences worldwide, building an extensive network. About 80% of the time he finds suitable candidates, but the remaining 20% ends in disappointment. In theory, he could act purely as a “headhunter,” introducing people and stepping away. But in reality, fewer than 5% of projects succeed that way. For 95% of projects, the middleman must simultaneously serve as translator, coordinator, and even event babysitter.
"Without continuous mediation, conflicts arise quickly, and both sides may refuse to continue working together. Cultural difference is the biggest challenge."
Beyond matchmaking, ongoing relationship maintenance is even more critical. Dane regularly chats with Western talents, helps them open accounts, or meets up with them at conferences. "Many Western professionals aren’t short on money—the real value lies in connection. The core of 'foreigner on stage' services is building long-term trust."
However, this business has also bred chaos. Some resell a $3,000/month “Western talent” for tens of thousands, creating triple margins that make Dane shake his head: "I think they’ll ruin the reputation eventually, but I can’t deny there are many like them."
A single T-shirt with four Chinese characters brought Dane massive attention—and plenty of “crude, blatant, and overt” comments. As the only one in his team who understands Chinese, even his employees couldn’t grasp the meaning behind “Lao Wai Zhan Tai.”
But undeniable is the substantial demand for what’s called White Monkey in English-speaking contexts. He’s even helped Chinese projects secure $5 million in funding. Compared to offensive wording, he cares more about gaining market visibility.
Looking ahead, he plans to expand services to Web2 listed companies: "In traditional industries, this demand will only grow larger."
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