In celebration of International Women’s Day this year, Cointelegraph hosted a roundtable of eight leading women in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors to discuss ways to get more women into fintech. While many thoughts were shared, common topics centered on education, mentoring, and inclusivity.
Kristina Lucrezia-Cornèr, Editor-in-Chief of Cointelegraph, opened the discussion by asking panelists about ways to attract more women to trade and invest in cryptocurrencies. Although new data from market research firm Cardify shows that more and more women are making cryptocurrencies a bigger part of their portfolios, men are still the majority when it comes to crypto investments.
Olivia Capozzalo, Head of Content at Crypto Exchange OKEx, confirmed this, stating that the male customer base continues to dominate most exchanges. She said that the crypto sector is an emerging industry and that trader profiles are still very traditional. However, Capozzalo noted that women play a large role in household financial decisions:
“Meltem Demirors often talks about the large percentage of women who control wealth in their families, which is around 80% in the US. We make products because there is a huge potential customer base, regardless of age or gender. The thing about crypto is that it allows direct access to wealth creation, with no middlemen or special qualifications. “
Based on Capozzalo, blockchain and fintech consultant Efi Pylarinou explained that traditional markets face similar problems in terms of male dominance. Because of this, Pylarinou believes that the problem women are currently struggling with has to do with participation.
Pylarinou said she isn’t surprised at the lack of women using crypto exchanges, but hopes that more women will be involved in developing blockchain platforms and protocols. “When blockchain designs and infrastructure are done at the corporate level and there aren’t enough women, nothing is generated by female thought patterns. This is the biggest problem we face today, ”she said.
How can you attract more women to blockchain and crypto?
To ensure that more women had a seat at the table, Lucrezia-Cornèr asked panelists to share their thoughts on educational methods to encourage women’s participation in crypto and blockchain.
Anino Emuwa, founder and CEO of Avandis Consulting and co-founder of 100Women @ Davos, said that blockchain and cryptocurrency education needs to be emphasized from a young age. “Coin toys and picture books that talk about the subject should be promoted early on. We have to start now to open the world to our children, ”she said.
Educational content related to crypto and blockchain is becoming more and more important, especially as more and more newbies enter the room. Cardify’s results show that despite women’s increasing interest in cryptocurrency, men are more confident about their understanding of crypto.
However, educational content targeting women has been helpful in filling this gap. Molly Jane Zuckerman, content manager at CoinMarketCap, stated that the site’s Alexandria platform, which includes how-to guides, as well as gamification content such as quizzes and surveys, has relatively equal numbers of male and female readers.
Education aside, Lucrezia-Cornèr said getting women interested in blockchain in general is crucial. Elissa Shevinsky, Cointelegraph’s chief technology officer, stated that the bigger problem is getting women to stay in the industry rather than focusing on ways to get women interested in technology.
This is an important point to consider as a recent CoinMarketCap report showed that the number of women in the cryptocurrency industry rose 43.24% in the first quarter of 2020. Shevinsky says women have been interested in technology for some time getting women to stay in these emerging fields is a challenge. Fortunately, job opportunities in the blockchain and crypto industries have increased despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Capozzalo noted that this was very encouraging, especially for women, noting that the crypto industry was an “unusually welcoming place”. I also found that the blockchain space was incredibly attractive to women, and noticed that this was the field that attracted my most attention after writing about technology for over 10 years.
The importance of mentoring and inclusivity
I explained that being part of an inclusive company is extremely important to career growth and success. Many of the female panelists also agreed that mentoring and inclusivity are important factors when it comes to getting women involved in blockchain and cryptocurrency over the long term.
Teodora Atanasova, VIP relations manager and founding member of crypto-friendly bank Nexo, said most of the team leaders in her company are women. It is important that women thrive in a women-friendly environment. Atanasova went on to explain that while men do not usually differentiate between men and women, they should make it a goal to look after women in the room.
Sanja Kon, CEO of cryptocurrency payment provider Utrust, said overall she hopes more women will believe in themselves in order to move forward. “It is important to find mentors who you admire and who support and guide you through this space,” she said.
