New opportunities for women in crypto business

On a rainy Friday afternoon, a dozen women gathered at a Brooklyn hotel called the Williamsburg. Completely different in age, nationality and professional experience, they all share an interest in one topic - cryptocurrencies.

Jalak Jobanputra brought together this group - which includes JP Morgan's leading blockchain technology expert Amber Baldet, lawyer Carol Van Cleef, venture capitalist Arianna Simpson, Vice President of Digital Currency Group Meltem Demirors, Bitcoin entrepreneurs Lianna Kemp, Utah Steiner, Elizabeth Rosiello, Preethi Kasireddy - in order to establish connections between women in the crypto environment. On the one hand, these are simply regular meetings of business people who want to discuss business with people who work in the same field. But they are all women. 

On the other hand, this summit is a show of female power in a field that is notorious for embodying the worst aspects of the patriarchal finance and tech industries: greed, sexism, fraud, crime.

“I am tired of hearing that there are not enough women in the blockchain field,” said Emma Channing, CEO of Satis Group. This weekend members The gathering posted tweetssharing the topics of their discussions using the hashtag #FPVWomen.

Participants shared experiences in raising venture capital, recruiting, cryptocurrency trading, technology development, regulatory consulting, and initial coin offerings. Previously, some of them worked in the fields of corporate finance, currency arbitrage, mechanical engineering, diamond mining, public relations and law. They discussed the future of cryptocurrency regulation, and also compared the pros and cons of private and public blockchains. 

Cryptocurrencies and sexism

The cryptocurrency ecosystem is still in its infancy, but it is already suffering from manifestations of sexism. 

Women want to be part of blockchain technology: in New York, for example, meetings called “Woman and Blockchain” are held, which are attended by more than 1,400 representatives of the fairer sex. However, signs of inequality, especially when it comes to the issue of cryptocurrency ownership, are already visible everywhere. According to some studies, 40% of all Bitcoin coins are owned by 1000 people. Some surveys show that of all Bitcoin owners, 71% are men.. One crypto exchange company claims that less than 6% of its users are women.

As stated in the book Brotopia, written by Emily Chang, there is evidence that companies with more women in their management structures show the best results in the crypto business. The meeting participants committed themselves to fulfill a number of promises.  They will seek out underrepresented groups for investment, recruitment and mentoring, incentives and stipends for those who attend conferences. They promise to work towards creating a code of conduct that will encourage a diverse mix of participants.

Some of our heroines have made additional promises, such as including more women and minorities in any event or conference they attend. Some have pledged to support projects like Girls Who Code and Black Girls Code. They also invited all participants in the blockchain industry to join forces in the fight against gender inequality in the crypto business environment. 

In a statement, Jobanputra said that the only way blockchain can realize its potential for democratization, accessible education, and financial inclusion is by encouraging the participation of all groups of the population, regardless of race or gender. “We recognize that these promises are not the solution to all problems, but they are the first concrete steps to create diverse jobs,” she says. “We hope that the list of those who have joined in solving these problems will only grow.”

According to https://www.wired.com