Is this world of cryptocurrency so masculine?

The world of digital currency, which emerged eight years ago from the almost exclusively male domain of Bitcoin, is beginning to open up to women. And although today's statistics have improved significantly, still only 5% of startups belong to the fair half of humanity.

Four of the thirty promising ICO proposals in 2017 were led by women, and two of them remain the largest today. Women are becoming more visible as speakers at crypto conferences. And Coinbase Inc., one of the digital hottest currency exchanges, said 46 percent of its new hires this year are women.

In CoinDesk's recently unveiled voting list for the Most Influential People in Blockchain, which includes leaders who have influenced the development of the crypto industry, five of the 153 candidates were women.

Women have made great strides in the Blockchain field. “We have an opportunity to rebuild the financial system,” said Galia Benartzi, co-founder of Bancor’s ICO, which raised $150 million in June 2017.

Celebrity women have appeared in a men’s cryptocurrency club. 

Katherine NicholsonCo-founder and CEO, BlockCypher. Her company helps create reliable software applications. She is also a Senior Advisor to the Blockchain Group for Banco Santander and Chair of the Hyperledger Leadership Council at the Linux Foundation. She is one of the most influential women in Blockchain.

Perianne BoringFounder and President of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, the world's largest trade association representing the blockchain industry. She received her bachelor's degree in business administration and economics from the University of Florida. She began her career as a legislative analyst in the US House of Representatives. Perianne was named among CoinDesk's "10 Most Influential People in Blockchain 2016" and "Top Woman in Bitcoin 2015."

Adena Friedmanwas recently named President and CEO of US stock exchange Nasdaq, making her the first woman to lead an international exchange company. Previously, she served as Exec's CFO and Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Information Products on the Nasdaq management team. Friedman is currently trying to strengthen the role of Blockchain in the stock market.

Elizabeth Stark, founder and CEO of Lightning, is a graduate of Harvard Law School. Stark taught at Stanford and Yale, where she lectured on the impact of the Internet on economics and law... She was an entrepreneur in residence at Stanford StartX and advised many project launches on the Blockchain platform.

Marina Guryeva,Blockchain enthusiast, CEO at CyberFund, Deputy Director of the HSE Innovation Center, member of the Bitcoin Foundation. CyberFund is focused on evaluating and developing technologies that are being put forward and tested on a wide variety of cryptocurrencies.

Irina Bulygina, a successful trader with many years of experience in Forex trading. Leaving the trading business in Zaporozhye, she made a successful career. Today, the trader maintains a personal blog on his website bulygina.com, conducts webinars, seminars and training courses. Bulygina trained about 2,000 traders.

In fact, there are very, very many representatives of the fair half in the crypto industry, and there is no doubt that their number will only grow in the future.

Blockchain and the world of cryptocurrency are a boys’ club, some experts say, but practice shows that this statement is controversial and even dangerous. Bitcoin strives to win its place in the sun and does not need gender restrictions at all. 

By claiming to be a global system of payments and capital preservation, Bitcoin cannot ignore the fair half of humanity. To expand on a large scale, you need to gain the support of all demographic groups.