Discussion continues about the dominance of men in cryptocurrency and blockchain, as well as the hostile environment often created by sexism in the crypto world. From speaker panels featuring only or mostly men to objectifying advertisements, the industry has a long way to go before it becomes fully welcoming to women and embodies the equality often pointed to as a goal of blockchain’s decentralization. Nellie Bowles, tech reporter for the New York Times, explores the contributing factors to the inequality in the crypto world—and how women are fighting back.
PALO ALTO, Calif. — When a cryptocurrency start-up that promised to revolutionize the fruit and vegetable industry shut down last month, it left behind one word on its website: penis.
When a virtual currency company called DateCoin recently tried to entice investors for its initial coin offering, it posted a Facebook ad that featured a reclining woman in a swimsuit with text over her body that read, “Touch my I.C.O.”
And after the North American Bitcoin Conference in January, which highlighted 84 male speakers and three women, the official conference party was held at a Miami strip club.
Virtual currencies and blockchain, the digital ledger that forms the basis of the cryptocurrencies, were intended to be democratizing and equalizing forces, buoyed by a utopian exuberance. But women who have been trying to participate in the gold rush are finding a lopsided gender divide. And some say the culture is getting worse, with the male-dominated culture buoyed by a new fleet of wealthy crypto speculators known as “blockchain bros.”
That means the budding world is already in danger of looking like the rest of the technology industry, where women are decidedly a minority. Some studies estimate that women account for only 4 percent to 6 percent of blockchain investors. That imbalance matters because the early days of an industry are often when the fortunes are made — and those big winners then choose whom to invest in and what to build next, launching a cascade of consequences.
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