Though cryptocurrency is a completely decentralized platform, it is clear to see upon a quick scan of the figures that the consumer market is quite male-heavy. This tends to be the case with a lot of tech industries but for something like crypto (where it has had its rise in popularity in the age where equal opportunities for men and women are encouraged more than they have ever been), why is there still this unfair shift?
When you look at the stats, roughly twice as many men are investing and trading in crypto than women. When women between the ages of 18 to 29 were asked if they had invested, around 19% of them said yes. Alternatively, when the same age bracket of men was asked 43% said yes. All of these stats were collected by a survey that was carried out by the Pew Research Centre.
This resonates not only in the world of cryptocurrency but in the world of Blockchain as well, as there also aren’t as many women who work within that industry either. Those who were interested following a report done in 2019 hovered at around 4% to 6%.
In the past few years though, despite their still being an imbalance, there is no escaping the fact that more women are starting to become invested in these industries. There has been a shift recently which has paved the way for women in crypto and this is in turn leading to a more diverse group of people getting involved.
Here, we will be discussing some of the main reasons why, despite it being a male-dominated consumer market, more women are now beginning to get involved with cryptocurrency.
The Influence of Others
There are a number of female entrepreneurs who have made moves within the world of cryptocurrency and these are one of the main factors impacting just how many women are now interested in getting involved themselves. Not only do these women act as role models, but they are also creating more female-friendly spaces where women can get involved in the world of crypto. Some of the major influences when it comes to women investing and subsequently influencing others include the following:
Charlene Fadirepo
When Charlene first came across crypto a few years back she decided not to get involved because like a lot of people, she thought it sounded too risky. That being said, when covid hit she decided to explore the crypto rabbit hole and hasn’t looked back since. She started learning more and wanted to get involved within the world of crypto.
She was unable to find proper learning modules that suited her and so instead decided to build her own. She commented on “the ugliness of crypto bro culture” when making this decision, and so built on top of her existing community through GuideFi. She commented on her decision saying, “I would just encourage folks that are encountering those spaces to find a space that works for you,” before continuing, “you don’t have to stay somewhere when you’re unwanted or unwelcome”.
Not only does Charlene act as a role model to women but her online platform means it is a lot more accessible for women to learn about cryptocurrency. This, paired with resources such as the crypto price history charts at OKX mean it has never been easier to get into the market, learn about it and stay on top of developments.
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Maliha Abidi
In the recent summer of 2021, Maliha found out about Ethereum and the potential that came with it and NFT’s. These allowed for her to combine her passions of art and social justice for women. One of the first NFTs that she ran was an empowerment campaign that brought together 100,000 women into the male-heavy worlds of blockchain, Web3 and cryptocurrency by the back end of 2022. The whole point of the NFT was to represent women from around the world, as she said, “with traits that go beyond the diversity of just skin colors.” In doing this she inspired a lot of women from all over the planet to get more involved with the world of cryptocurrency and as such has been a massive influence on making the market more equal.
She commented on her inspiration, saying, “the idea comes from the work that I’ve been doing for the past 10 years,” she said, “it was not an experiment for us. It was more like this is what we want to do. We were very intentional with it.”
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Cleve Mesidor
If you were to ask Cleve Mesidor, she would tell you that for her crypto is a lot more than just making money. She states that it can be a pathway for women and people of color towards economic empowerment. This is why she has been heavily focused on getting more women and people of color to participate within the world of crypto.
Cleve is happy with the turn that things seem to be taking. Even though there are still clear gender and racial gaps within the world of crypto, there is certainly more adoption by Black and Latino communities. She commented recently saying, “right now, crypto may appear male dominated, but the future of crypto is gender and racially inclusive”. Recent data backs this up as well, as it states that Black and Latino communities seem to be engaging in crypto now at a higher rate than white Americans. There are also a lot more women getting involved.
Conclusion
The world of crypto right now is quite male dominated as there are almost double the number of men operating within the market as there are women. That being said, there is a positive shift currently taking place.
The overriding benefits of crypto will be a large factor for this but there is no escaping the fact that women in the industry are currently having a big influence. Those listed above are taking positive steps towards making the industry more accessible for women and encouraging a more diverse background within the world of crypto.
