Why crypto offers great career opportunities for talented women
For a long time, gender diversity has been an issue in most industries, including the crypto space. Since its inception, the crypto industry has been considered a male-dominated sector. However, the narrative in the cryptosphere is gradually changing. More women are entering this area as investors, entrepreneurs or employees, and this trend is already bearing fruit.
For example, a 2022 Crypto Diversity Report by Forex Suggest showed that all of the top 30 crypto companies on their list had at least one female board member. Research showed that 49% of women prefer to invest in cryptocurrency, and 19.7% of women are involved in trading. BlockFi also conducted a survey showing that one in ten women chose cryptocurrencies as their first investment. Additionally, female Gen Z and Millennials new to investing are willing to put their money into crypto before anything else.
Women are already succeeding in crypto
As a board member of a crypto company, I see a growing number of women getting involved in building crypto infrastructure in key roles, from founders and managers to marketers, managers and developers. They have a global impact and show that women can succeed in the crypto space. All it takes is the right mindset, the right skills and action.
Here are some examples of influential women who have driven various changes in the crypto world. (Neither my company nor I have any ties to these women or their companies.)
- Katie Haun
Katie Haun’s story is an inspiration to all women out there in industries other than fintech. The former federal prosecutor owns a US$1.5 billion cryptocurrency fund, Haun Ventures. It is the largest debut fund ever raised by a female-founded venture capitalist firm.
Haun began her career as a lawyer and later participated in the design and teaching of the first ever course on “Digital Currency and Cybercrime” at Stanford Law School, from which she graduated. Before striking out on her own, she started with Andreessen Horowitz as a general partner. She has also been a board member for major Web3 platforms such as Coinbase and OpenSea.
Recently, Haun’s VC firm led a US$11 million round for a Web3 community platform, Highlight. It also led a US$50 million round for another NFT startup, Zora Labs.
- Maggie Love
Maggie Love is co-founder and director of W3B Cloud, an ecosystem that powers high-performance data centers for blockchain applications. In 2019, Maggie joined ConsenSys, an Ethereum blockchain software company, before co-founding W3B Cloud. It is now being listed on the stock exchange at a value of 1.25 billion dollars.
She also founded SheFi, a platform that offers education and community to women looking to enter the crypto world. She often describes the ultimate goal of SheFi as providing crypto literacy to help women understand how DeFi works. Accordingly, they are authorized to invest in or work in the crypto market.
- Yi Han
Yi He is the head of marketing for Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange. She was recently assigned a new role in the company’s venture arm as head of Binance Labs.
Yi started her career in the entertainment industry before joining OKCoin in 2014, taking on a branding and marketing strategy role. She helped OKCoin achieve about 60% of the Chinese market share.
In 2017, she joined forces with Changpeng Zhao, a former colleague and now co-founder of Binance. Yi has since played a key role in growing Binance, handling marketing operations, social media management, brand management and PR.
Benefits of a crypto career
Why is the crypto market becoming more attractive to women? In my opinion, these are the main reasons:
- The crypto industry’s innovations and rapid growth
The number of crypto users is growing by around 80% annually. Consequently, the industry is innovating at high speed, creating many opportunities.
The pie is big enough that women no longer need to play minor roles in the industry, as has been the case in the TradFi area. Women in the crypto industry code, market, create guidelines, teach, found companies and invest. Overall, increased opportunities in the industry have given women space to step in, overcome stereotypes and explore male-dominated roles.
- Blockchain’s principles of decentralization
Decentralization is the core principle of the decentralized financial system (DeFi). As the name suggests, it means transferring authority and responsibility from a central party such as an individual, a company or a group. Decentralization is intended to increase equality, transparency and accessibility of financial services.
As a result, women are increasingly joining the crypto space to take advantage of the DeFi system to access broader financial tools to supplement their income. Because blockchain is open access and available to anyone worldwide, more women can join the space, anywhere.
What crypto employers are looking for
To get more women into the crypto space, they need to have the right mindset and skills. From my experience, anyone looking to get started should be willing to learn and invest in sharpening and expanding their skills. One should also take a step further to build a portfolio and network with other blockchain professionals. Meeting the right people, especially when starting your career, can open up new opportunities.
Crypto employers are looking for a wide range of hard and soft skills. They include programming, risk management, data analysis, software development, UX design, business development, sales marketing and content writing. Also, age, gender and background don’t matter, provided you can learn/train and deliver according to industry standards.
Is a crypto career still viable in Crypto Winter?
Much of 2022 was dominated by Crypto Winter, which has led to many layoffs continuing into 2023. While the situation may seem unnerving in the short term, consider the industry’s long-term outlook.
More institutional investors are increasing their crypto portfolios. A recent survey has also shown that around 56% of consumers are still interested in buying cryptocurrency in 2023. It shows that there is a huge growth potential in the crypto industry. Therefore, I would still encourage women or anyone interested in entering this industry to continue honing their skills and continue networking.
Another major career benefit of crypto is the flexibility of the industry. As a young industry based on the principles of decentralization and equal access, crypto companies often also have decentralized workplaces. Many jobs in the crypto space, such as customer service, computer programming, marketing, sales and analytics are often designed as remote jobs, which can give women of all ages and family situations greater flexibility than a career in older, more traditional industries. .
Final thoughts
Crypto is an excellent career path for women interested in technical jobs. The fintech industry may still appear to be male-dominated, but enthusiastic and skilled women are thriving and breaking through the digital ceiling.
Crypto is an industry for the economy of the future, with plenty of opportunities, and the time is ripe for more women to make their mark on a sector whose core technology – blockchain – was founded to give all people, including women, more financial independence and freedom.
