The low number of women in blockchain and crypto industry is well documented. For instance, there is only about only 4 percent to 6 percent of women among blockchain investors. That is highlighted very well in blockchain and crypto meetups.
Just to mention one, the North American Bitcoin Conference in January had 84 male speakers and only three women. Organizer of the event Moe Levin said it was not intentional to include more men than women. In fact, there was supposed to be 86 men and one-woman speakers, but later changes included two more women speakers. This came after some complaints on the issue.
The official party was at a strip club, and a group of female investors boycotting the conference to which Levin said was surprising. He said the reason was that there aren’t too many event spaces downtown Miami.
“Moe does something just as sexist every year,” said Rose Chan, who founded the World Bank’s blockchain working group and now runs her cryptocurrency project. “He switches it up, which means that he thinks about it.”
That was worse by the sexist incidents involving DateCoin’s Facebook ad and Prodeum, the blockchain-for-fruit startup scam.
As a result, some leaders in the cryptocurrency space are now organizing events, clubs, and conferences to attract women in the industry. One such event was in San Francisco this month. Alexia Bonatsos, a venture capitalist, spoke at the meeting and recently wrote on his Twitter page.
“Women, consider crypto. Otherwise the men are going to get all the wealth, again.”
There was also a gathering in New York, which brought together some leaders in the crypto spaces. These include Jalak Jobanputra, founder of the startup investment firm Future Perfect Ventures. Out of that meeting came the plans to launch Collective Future, which is a blockchain advocacy group. However, crypto companies will create a diversity pledge as a show of commitment.
Together, these leaders agree that it is crucial to get women in blockchain and crypto as early as now.
“The early days are what decide the culture of industry and who get involving in making the decisions,” Jobanputra said.
The most commonly cited reason for little involvement of women in cryptocurrency industry would be lack of as many women in the tech industries as men. However, Arianna Simpson, an early cryptocurrency investor doesn’t think it takes expertise or Ph.D. to thrive in the industry.
“Women always question if they’re qualified,” she said. “But look at these clowns around us.”
Brit Morin, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur recently held a women blockchain event that sold out in an hour and then all the 500 seats sold out again in a more critical venue afterward. That evening, about 16,000 viewers watched the live stream. It might mean that some changes are beginning to surface.
“We have an opportunity to rebuild the financial systems,” Morin said. “Women want to be part of that.”
Source of the news: https://coinpedia.org/news/jalak-jobanputra-betting-big-crypto/
