Crypto is overwhelmingly male. But these women’s collectives are raising their voices

The elephant in the room at many cryptocurrency conferences is that there are very few women in the room. In fact, cryptocurrency, despite being heralded as a new world of Web3 for everyone, has a widely recognized diversity problem.

Various surveys in the past few years have concluded that crypto is overwhelmingly white and male, and dominated by six-figure earners. A Pew Research Center report from November 2021 showed that in the United States, men are over twice as likely to say they’ve used a cryptocurrency than women (22% vs 10%). And within the younger millennial to older Gen Z age group of 18-29-year-olds—where a large chunk of the crypto community is concentrated—43% of men say they’ve dabbled in Bitcoin or other crypto tokens as opposed to 19% of women.

Another 2021 report from Gemini, a popular cryptocurrency exchange platform, profiled the typical cryptocurrency owner as a 38-year-old man making approximately $111,000 per year. According to that report, 74% of crypto holders are male and 71% are white.

However, as crypto keeps hurtling into the mainstream, diversity collectives have emerged that are determined to transform the community into something more representative of the greater population. In honor of International Women’s Day today, here’s a short list of organizations, summits, and ventures that hope to encourage women in crypto:

BFF

A collaboration between over 50 leading women across industries, the BFF founders list boasts powerhouse names like Gwyneth Paltrow, Mila Kunis, Tyra Banks, and Randi Zuckerberg. The collective launched with an inaugural “Crypto 101” event in January that hosted educational panels and encouraged women investors to take advantage of the projected $10 trillion Web3 market.

World of Women

Another effect of crypto’s diversity problem is the lack of feminine-looking avatar NFTs, which community members adopt as profile pictures to establish credibility within the space. World of Women launched as a collection of NFTs featuring colorful, hand-drawn artwork of diverse female faces. It has since seen enormous success not just as a female-focused collection, but as one of the most popular avatar series overall. With several celebrity backers, the collection’s pieces go for over $13,000 at cheapest, all the way up to $27 million for one woman with green skin and flower earrings.

Women in Blockchain

Founded in 2017, Women in Blockchain is an organization that aims to demystify the space with easily accessible information, such as a comprehensive “Beginner’s Guide to Blockchain” that compiles thorough explainers in article, video, and podcast form—including gems like “Bitcoin explained with Emoji” and “What the Fi is DeFi.” (It also offers insight into the enduring debate on blockchain consensus mechanisms, and makes recommendations for the best digital wallets.) Women in Blockchain also partnered with another collective, she256, to launch the Komorebi Fund, a DAO that has raised over $400,000 to invest in women-led projects across the globe.

Boys Club

A self-described “no bro zone for the crypto curious,” Boys Club exists primarily on Discord, where members discuss topics in chat rooms with such disclaimers as “no dumb questions.” It recently held an IRL meeting in Manhattan, where Vox reports its founder told the crowd, “One thing that makes us different from other crypto communities is that the people who are coming to Boys Club are, like, poets, florists, academics . . . They’re trying to figure out how their acupuncture business could move into this Web3 world.”