Ever since that first Bitcoin whitepaper was released back in 2009, cryptocurrency has been on the up. Its meteoric rise can only be described as a revolutionary financial phenomenon that has redefined the way we think about money, transactions, and the very concept of value. Or, rather, it’s redefined the way men think about those things.
Despite cryptocurrency growing from strength to strength – with over 560 million cryptocurrency users worldwide – one of the issues that many have recognised is its ongoing gender disparity. Even in 2024, the cryptocurrency space remains largely male-dominated, with women underrepresented in both user base and industry leadership roles. So why is this the case and what are women doing to change the face of crypto?
The iGaming Crypto Scene
First things first, while women are underrepresented in the areas just mentioned, the crypto-verse is more than just a financial market. One of the biggest revelations of blockchain, for instance, is the evolution of Dapps and decentralised blockchain games, which allow players to trade, sell, and buy tokens in a vibrant and interconnected digital ecosystem.
This has travelled over into the centralised space, with plenty of online gaming platforms infusing cryptocurrency into their offerings. The disparity here is far less. Some of the most popular platforms reviewed on this website, for example, are completely gender neutral, with the disparity between male and female players far more minimal.
In terms of the crypto and traditional gaming space, around 52% of players are male, with 48% female. Compare this with the current state of the cryptocurrency market, where around 70% of traders are men, while 30% are female.
This could be down to a number of reasons. For starters, the finance and tech industries – which form the backbone of the cryptocurrency market – have traditionally been male-dominated, with that historical bias carrying over into the crypto space. It’s also fair to say that the early marketing and community culture were geared towards men, potentially alienating women with the associated imagery, language, and focus of those initial discussions.
How Women are Changing This
One of other big reasons that women have been underrepresented outside of online casinos and blockchain games is due to representation and role models.
Almost paradoxically, the visibility of women in key roles is crucial to getting women onboard – the less women there are as role models or leaders, the less other women are going to be inspired or attracted to the sector.
This could be about to change, however. Across the crypto industry, women are beginning to break through. According to Annabel Macleod, a blockchain Product Commercialisation Manager, being a woman in the crypto space has ‘meant embracing differences as an individual and translating them as gold nuggets of impact’. This translates to bringing unique, creative skills and aligning them to the digital world to encourage ‘the shaping and adoption of alternative narratives’.
According to Eleanor Gaywood, another key figure in the blockchain industry, being a woman ‘isn’t just about breaking barriers; it’s about leveraging unique perspectives and skills to revolutionise an industry’. It’s clear, in this case, that key female figures are not just falling in with the crowd, but are actively doing work to revolutionise crypto even further.
This, subsequently, has led to the percentage of women who own crypto rising by 11% in the last year alone – not just because there are more women seeing success in key crypto roles, but because women in leadership leads to improved product enhancement. A good product is a product that appeals to both males and females, and with more women on board in the industry, it appears crypto, as a product, is going to get even better.