An Open Invitation to Women: Welcome to the Web3 Movement

There's no denying the current parlance of Web3: it's a boys club. And, if we stick to that narrative, it's bound to come true. The fact that cryptocurrency is a boys club isn’t just bad for women — it can hurt the entire outlook and development of Web3.

Web3 is not a club set up just to keep people out. It's a party that goes up and all boats get better with each new addition. The more people involved, the better the outcome for everyone.

I got into cryptocurrencies very early: it was 2013, and I was invited to a small meetup at SXSW in Austin to discuss technology and trends — specifically Bitcoin (BTC). I was the only woman in that group. Many of us know nothing about Bitcoin, but on that evening, we were invited to be educated. At the time, the price of Bitcoin was $35. Some of us invested that night, others did so weeks later. I waited until the end of the year and bought them at $841 each. The decision to commit to it has shaped my life in a big way. Today, bitcoins are trading at around $40,000 a coin.

I think back to being in that room in Austin many times, and am grateful that I was a part of those early conversations. However, I also firmly believe that the conversation has only just begun. It's not too late to consider investing in this nascent industry.

Julian Weisser, a core member of ConstitutionDAO, told me recently: “Web3 will become more popular when participation replaces speculation.” He added:

"When people feel like owners, not speculators, they have a deeper connection to projects. We need more Web3 initiatives to capture the infinitely broad interest of humanity."

Web3 can (and should) reverse years of economic inequality

It’s important to understand why cryptocurrencies have a “boys club” reputation so we can crush such a title. Essentially, I think it's because cryptocurrency was pitched as a high-risk investment in the first place. Women are inherently more risk-averse, and thus steer clear of the initial wave of risk.

The disparity between men and women in the cryptocurrency space today is in line with the traditional tradition of skewing men in the traditional investing world. According to a survey conducted by CNBC and Acorns, 40% of men own individual stocks, compared with 24% of women. Likewise, according to cryptocurrency exchange Gemini’s 2021 State of Cryptocurrency in the U.S. Report, three-quarters of cryptocurrency holders are men, meaning many women are missing out on a market valued at $2 trillion.

However, it is not too late to get back on track. I think if we do that, women have a very good chance of breaking down some of the gender wealth and pay gaps -- gaps that have been sown in our social fabric. While intergenerational inequality in wealth accumulation through traditional investment methods may become increasingly difficult to address, Web3 remains a blank slate. Why fall into old patterns when looking at a new field? The great promise of digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum is that they can turn Wall Street around. Now, we can use them to transform the financial future of women.

Make Web3 Everyone's Club

So what do we do now to make Web3 everyone's club?

Well, part of the puzzle is the barrier to entry. The way people learn about Web3 is often very narrow - a friend tells another friend to follow a Discord channel to learn more, or they recommend an interesting post to a friend on Twitter. Since the early adopters of the sport were mostly men, they enlisted their male friends to get involved as well. The most effective way to get more women involved is to reach out to your social circle.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to an early session in 2013 by advocate Gary Vaynerchuck. We need more events like this. For this movement to grow and gain legitimacy, we need everyone involved. I would like to challenge the men of Web3 to think of a woman they could invite to their next meeting. I hope women will ask questions and see this opportunity as a way to combine their wealth with men. In this moment, you can change the course of women's wealth, not just today, but in the future.

There are also many women now joining the movement and inviting others to join. This is a good start. I'm excited to be at the forefront of change. Web3 is now making its debut in traditionally women's venues. Just look at the online selling platform Shopify. The platform, which reports that 52 percent of its customers are women, is creating a marketplace for selling NFTs. In the UK, a new campaign called Women Rise aims to bring 100,000 women into the cryptocurrency space by the end of the year. Since 2017, the nonprofit Women in Blockchain has been working to make the crypto world more welcoming to women. In October last year, the physical version of the NFT series "Boss Beauties" containing 10,000 digital portraits of women was even exhibited on the New York Stock Exchange.

In February, 22-year-old day trader and cryptocurrency investor Amy Matsushima launched the NFT series "Women of crypto" as a way for her to teach other young women about NFTs. Nearly 9,000 avatars were all sold out within 10 hours. Amy, who invested $20,000 in cryptocurrency at the age of 19, saw the gender imbalance in Web3 and recognized the difference for what it was: opportunity.

I also agree. If you thought Web3 was an exclusive club designed to keep people out, change your mind. The Web3 revolution is a "more the merrier" proposition, and we hope everyone can join in. Anyone who has already invested has an obligation to invite outsiders in. The beauty of it, as Matsushima understands, is that the more people who join, the more valuable it is to everyone: a rising tide lifts all boats.

If you are a woman, here I openly invite you to join the Web3 movement. Check out some of the resources above, or follow some of my favorites: Emilie Choi, Rebecca Kaden, Meagan Loyst, Yam Karkai, Gary Vaynerchuck, and Julian Weisser to join the Web3 wave.

Cointelegraph Chinese is a blockchain news information platform, and the information provided only represents the author's personal opinion, has nothing to do with the position of the Cointelegraph Chinese platform, and does not constitute any investment and financial advice. Readers are requested to establish correct currency concepts and investment concepts, and earnestly raise risk awareness.