Beyond Bitcoin Bros: Intersection of Gender and Cryptocurrency

October 16, 2023

Are we finally advanced enough to think that stock market/investment tools are for all, or is it part of an “elite group of rich boys”

Cryptocurrency has introduced the world to a new form of currency that is decentralised in nature and thus cannot be manipulated by any government or organisation. The world of Crypto is relatively new and the very first Bitcoin (A type of Cryptocurrency) transaction took place only 14 years ago in 2009.

Since then, the market has seen several new cryptocurrencies introduced to solve the leading problems of the world. Meanwhile, retail investors and several organisations are treating the technology as a new form of investment tool and we all have heard news of people getting rich or poor overnight just by investing in some form of cryptocurrency. In the final week of 2022, the capitalisation of the crypto market has grown to over a trillion dollars. Fortune Magazine predicts the global cryptocurrency market will grow to $1.9 trillion by 2028.

Adoption of Cryptocurrency around the world

The world is treating cryptocurrency in different ways as we have seen a few countries allowing citizens to use the technology to make payments while a few countries are trying to ban the technology or placing it in the tax regime (like India) to scoop out major income from the rise in the value of the currency.

In India, the currency was scrutinised by the government in the 2022 Budget in which the retail investors were asked to open the income generated through cryptocurrency and pay huge taxes over the same. As of now, India has around 7 online and offline stores that accept payments through cryptocurrency. The Reserve Bank of India has also introduced the digital rupee which is based on blockchain technology. [This defeats the entire purpose of decentralisation for which the technology was developed]

The adoption of Cryptocurrency takes place at 15% of the world population and India ranks #1 in cryptocurrency adoption at 29%.

Introduction of Gender to the World of Cryptocurrency

The gender gap in adoption of Cryptocurrency is significantly wide, globally males represent 63% of the population and the rest 37% belong to females. The gap has been improving over the years and there are countries that have a marginal gap of 6% in terms of adoption.

A December 2021 study found that of the 121 leading crypto companies, only five (or 4.13 per cent of the total) were founded by women. Even more concerning, less than 10 per cent of the partners at all crypto funds are women.

It should be no surprise, therefore, that the crypto space has a well-deserved reputation for having a “bro” culture—a culture that was on full display at the North American Bitcoin Conference in 2018 where the 5,000 attendees were invited to a “networking party” at a well-known Miami strip club.

Reasons for Gender Gap in digital finance

There are three key reasons for the gender gap in digital finance that led to the lesser representation of women to the world of digital finance. The reasons will explore the generic reasons that explain the gap in the adoption of cryptocurrency and specific reasons can be discussed later.

Women lack the basic means to access digital tools like Internet and smartphone. The importance of these tools in our lives is rising and without them, there is no means to access cryptocurrency as the entire life thread of the technology is dependent on the internet.

The cultural differences that introduce financial literacy among the specific genders are also a key reason why women are not introduced to digital finance. The women in countries like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal are culturally forced to work as housewives, and further, a huge poor population works as House help, agricultural labour or construction labour in these countries thus for them having basic education is a huge thing. The mere concept of the stock market doesn’t exist for them and the only form of investment they know is saving cash, FD, buying gold or property. With such huge differences, we cannot even expect these women to adopt cryptocurrency as an investment tool or as a digital form of currency.

The problem further rises with incidents like working women in the field of finance relying on their partners/fathers/brothers for their finances like taxation and investments. But we have heard stories of extraordinary women who have risked their entire wealth to make a big fortune, and this clearly shows that risk is manageable by both genders equally! This shows the societal problem of risk being associated with only one gender and can be traced to our pre-historic roots when men used to risk their lives while women used to nurture lives.

The statistics related to women being investors in the financial sector are highly manipulated and unreliable as there are cases in which the husband or father makes investments in financial markets in the name of their wife/daughter to gain tax benefits from the government. This should place a thought in our mind to check if we are finally advanced enough to think that stock market/investment tools are for all, or is it part of an “elite group of rich boys”?

Women’s digital and technology-related literacy, measured by the share of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, remains low at about 15 per cent globally. The percentage is alarming in several ways and explains the gender gap we see in the adoption of digital finance and cryptocurrency.

Women are also considered financially reserved when it comes to investment and thus, we can say that women prefer safer options for investment Crypto being a young asset it is naturally difficult for women to trust the new asset. Further, cryptocurrency has an adoption rate of 15% globally which informs us about the lack of awareness and thus we need more research in the area to understand this gender gap as find reasons for some assets that are not yet adopted by more than 85% of the population is like jumping in dark.

The problem includes a government angle too, as we see in the example of Vietnam, the country currently has the lowest gap between Men and Women in the adoption of Cryptocurrency. But this can change soon as the government there is in plans to make stricter policies for the industry that will reduce the access to the industry for the citizens. Does this mean that women now will lose interest in the industry while men will continue to adopt the technology through access to black markets or through dominance in the tech industry? Or will this impact both genders equally and the market will eventually die in the country?

The industry is full of nerds and was adopted by the tech and finance industry. Both these industries lack women and thus the same nature was adopted by the Crypto industry too. Further, the spaces see issues like sexism and lack of representatives from the gender are key factors responsible for not motivating other women to join these industries.

Solutions to Reduce Gender Gap

The problems look huge when we see the numbers but when we break them down to pieces, we can reduce the gap and make the space accessible to all genders equally. The introduction of financial education to women is the most important requirement and this will bring drastic changes in the society. A basic understanding of personal finance and the importance of diverse investment portfolios by actualising risk will help women to become financially strong and independent. The women seeking leadership space need motivation and acceptance from the industry and thus it is important for the entire crypto industry to formulate policies that welcome women. This will help the women to contribute to the field by working at basic jobs or leading entire organisations. The women’s talent will bring newer perspectives to the industry and will provide several alternatives to the solutions that are being developed to solve the world’s problems through cryptocurrency and blockchain.

What next?

The cryptocurrency space will continue to grow and will find solutions to our problems with the help of technology, the adoption of the technology will eventually increase as companies will focus on further generations of the Web. The countries may put certain laws in place that will reduce the power of these technologies with individuals to maintain the law and order as created under the current societies.

With all this development there is a huge score of involvement for women to contribute and make their space in the largely new and expanding digital world. The current figures are certainly new to judge but they may turn alarming if the gender gap doesn’t reduce in the coming years. It is further advisable to notice the sentiments of the industry to understand whether it is ideal to focus on cryptocurrency development or the development of blockchain technology that is leading the innovation in Web3 (A new version of the internet that supports NFTs and Cryptocurrency) as in the previous year there has been a serious decline in the Cryptocurrency market value followed by several rules and regulations from the different governments of the world.

We are also not sure whether the space will continue to grow, or will it die soon but whatever be the case, will the space see no women in its entire fate? Maybe the women in the industry can revolutionise the space and can revive it, unlike the men who can be blamed for the downfall of the industry as it is being entirely controlled by them.

Note – The article is based on certain articles and figures researched from the internet and does not advise any individual or group to make decisions related to career/investment choices in the cryptocurrency industry. Any such decisions should only take place with the help of expert advice or self-knowledge.

Akshat Jain is a 21-year-old human, trying to find his basics in this not-so ‘boring world’. He follows consumer technology for fun and sees himself as a storyteller, narrating the world his brand stories.