If you have spent more than five minutes scrolling through the cryptocurrency-based hubs of Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, or Discord, you will quickly realize that men make up about 90-95% of all the users involved.
Digital currency was born from and cultivated in a male dominate subculture, cypherpunk. From there it spread to other computer-based industries like software engineering and information technology services. Eventually cryptocurrency found its way to more mainstream platforms like Reddit, Youtube, and the popular BitcoinTalk website where most new coins announce their launch and future plans of their project.
As you can easily guess, all of those industries and subcultures are dominated by men. Women are noticeably absent from the cryptocurrency narrative, only recently beginning to emerge as “legitimate” persons of influence within the industry.
This is of course the perception of men in crypto. And they are not ready to hand over any power or airtime to women just yet. Most interactions within social platforms have little or nothing to do with women. It’s almost all digital currency. However, when the subject of ‘women in crypto’ presents itself, a good number of men leave a lot to be desired…
CNBC Crypto, a subcategory page of the news outlet CNBC, is doing a fair job of providing media coverage about cryptocurrency on a high-exposure platform. If you truly believe in digital currency and advocate for its growth and mass adoption, you might want to stop talking like this:
There is the blatant misogyny…
“Last [thing] we need is feminism in crypto. Hard pass.”
“bra coin or lingerie coin?”
“If they think it’s their gender holding them back from crypto then they deserve their manufactured uphill battle.”
“Hope they’ll buy the top. These agenda fueled [Social Justice Warriors] should go to politics not crypto.”
Then there is the presumption that women are stupid when it comes to investing and they will ultimately benefit the male trader by making bad trades.
“Teach them how to buy high and sell low,” with two men adding laughing reactions.
“[Yass] SISTER show them whos the boss buy my bags yass.”
Let me make something very clear: this type of behavior, mindset, and comments are 100% unacceptable. Yes, in general, women are vastly underrepresented in cryptocurrency. No, it does not give you the right to generalize them, to devalue their contributions to the industry, and to treat them like they are a nuisance that needs to be avoided.
Now, I could go into what the general make up of the demographic of men we are dealing with here. However, generalizations aside, the company you keep and the industry you work in is not an excuse for behaving like this.
I can see the comments right now, “Well the women in crypto aren’t doing themselves any favors!” What they mean by this is that a number of the women who have a fairly high level of notoriety in cryptocurrency sometimes present an overtly sexual presence in their pictures and videos. Presumably to draw in views and subscribers.
There are women in blockchain who go by names like ‘Crypto Bombshell,’ 'Crypto Model,’ paired with strategic clothing choices that make for a pleasurable viewing experience for their male viewers.
While this may be considered a fair argument, it is eerily reminiscent of the, “Look at how she is dressed, she was practically asking for it,” fallacy that men try to use to excuse themselves when called out about sexually harassing women.
Regardless of how much men try to justify their perceived belief that women are inferior when it comes to cryptocurrency, comments like this are completely abhorrent…
I would like to point out, these comments are from only one social media post. I didn’t need to dig for these. Scanning other posts throughout social media, I have found mirroring comments. This is not an isolated issue. This appears to be a pervasive, malignant problem that has infested almost every corner of the crypto-verse.
The simple truth is, if you are a believer in blockchain technology and you dream of the day where cryptocurrency is adopted by the majority of people in the world, then women need to be a part of that equation. Women make up 51% of the world’s population and there are millions of them who are interested in cryptocurrency.
Despite what is written by those above, women have the mental capacity to be a part of and contribute to the mosaic that is digital currency. Those who hold knowledge and expertise should be advocating for women to enter cryptocurrency, offering to teach them and help them become competent investors and contributors in the industry.
Unless women can explore the idea of digital currency without seeing comments like those featured here, they will continue to be undervalued and underrepresented in the industry. Both of which will only hurt the innovation of crypto and the prospect of mass adoption in the future.
Attempting to end on a more optimistic note, I wanted to share a few female-specific things to remind everyone that women aren’t only involved in cryptocurrency, they are helping to lead it into the future.
Forbes: Five Female Rock Stars Leading the Cryptocurrency Scene
CryptoCoin: 50 Most Influential Women in Blockchain
https://cryptocoin.news/cryptocurrency/50-of-the-most-influential-women-in-blockchain-industry-7588/
Crypto Flower: Popular Female Youtuber
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCoF3Mm-VzzZXSHtQKD8Skg
Crypto Tips: Popular Female Youtuber
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCavTvSwEoRABvnPtLg0e6LQ
Girls in Crypto: New, Female led Discord Server
- Cover photo borrowed from The Divi Project Medium.