An Empowering Coin: Cryptocurrency and Female Empowerment The rise in female retail cryptocurrency investors and why the ecosystem needs more of them

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity," once said American aviation pioneer and the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world, Amelia Earhart. The hunger for dreaming big and achieving the same rests in most of us. But turning one's dreams into a reality needs more than strong willpower and consistent work. Simply put, it needs financial freedom. Making investments has traditionally been a practice undertaken by men, keeping women mostly out of the loop. But things are changing. Amid homeownership and investments, cryptocurrency is gaining pace to be a preference for women when it comes to putting down their money for gains on assets. "One important thing is to see crypto as the first step for financial independence in terms of investment for women, the second asset class after cash," says Silvina Moschini, Founder, Unicoin.

THE ABSENCE:

Finance has been a topic women have stayed or made to stay away from. Cryptocurrency sits at the intersection of two male-dominated fields: finance and technology. Hence, the underrepresentation is no surprise. Women often face bias about their technical expertise and financial acumen. Bitcoin and blockchain having been developed on hard mathematics subjects of cryptography, data mining and computer science alas support the perception. Additionally, when it comes to investments, women tend to be more risk-averse than men. And since crypto is a volatile and emerging form of investment, women tend to go with traditional investments.

THE GROWING TREND:

Crypto has seen an optimistic market performance this year, indicating an overall increase in investments in the space. The segment sees a 3:1 male-to-female investor ratio in India. According to a survey by Mudrex, there is over 29 per cent participation from women when it comes to crypto investments. In 2018, Coin Dance suggested women held just under 5.3 per cent of the cryptocurrency's worth. The figure has now jumped to 14. 23 per cent.

"There has been a rise in female crypto investors on our platform by almost 50% in the first five months of this year as compared to the same time last year," shares Rajagopal Menon, Vice President, WazirX. Notably, India ranks third globally in terms of female crypto ownership. According to Forex Suggest, approximately 63 million (9.2 per cent) Indian women hold cryptocurrencies.

Most female investors fall in the 18-to 34-year-old age bracket. Anjali Kakkar, Senior VP, CoinDCX feels this trend reflects broader efforts within the crypto community to promote diversity and inclusivity and women's increasing interest in financial literacy.

According to a BDC Consulting survey, one in three women were found to have been pushed towards interacting with crypto courtesy of someone from their personal networks (friends, husbands, colleagues, etc). A 2023 BCG report that at top Web3 startups, the share of women is approximately 27 per cent, but often clustered in nontechnical roles such as HR and marketing. In a recent report, Delhi topped when it came to women crypto investors in FY23-24.

WHY THE NEED?:

Why should women look to crypto investing compared to traditional ones? Menon points to return on investment (ROI). "No asset in the history of womankind has given the ROI that Bitcoin has. In the last 15 years, Bitcoin has given an ROI of 140 per cent every year," he notes. Notably, in the first five months of 2024 alone, Bitcoin has given a return of 60 per cent. It jumped from USD 42,280.24 on January 1 to touch an all-time high of USD 75,830 on March 14 this year. "Virtual Digital assets or Crypto have shown significant potential for higher returns than traditional investments like stocks and bonds," shares Kakkar. She notes that women can opt for tokens with strong use cases and opt for blue chip tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The freedom to make financial decisions was one of the key attractions for women. Apart from several compelling reasons, including financial freedom, independence and empowerment, representation in the crypto segment matters.

"Cryptocurrency empowers individuals, making it a universal and inclusive platform for everyone. Hence, representation matters. Part of the reason that we don't see as many women in crypto is societal predispositions and an overarching perception that the crypto space is male-oriented. The more women that get involved in not only crypto, but the financial sector as a whole, the more it will empower other women to do the same," remarked Sarah Dale, Head of Brand Partnerships, Binance.

STEPS UNDERTAKEN:

The intention is not enough, it needs to be backed by actions. Dale welcomes the growing trend of women investing in cryptocurrency as a positive development; she feels more work needs to be done to raise awareness and bring more women into crypto.

Bitget launched its Blockchain4Her initiative aimed at promoting gender diversity and inclusivity in the blockchain industry, with a USD 10 Million commitment earlier this year. In order to address the gender disparity in crypto, Binance launched "CRYPTO'' scent but in vain. The campaign was aimed at starting debates about the gender imbalance in the business.

Earlier, Avalanche's The World of Women NFT project partnered with The Sandbox to develop a platform that promotes female inclusion and representation in Web 3 and the metaverse. "We are deploying virtual academies to train women to invest and have special membership initiatives for women," Moschini shares.

"So we'll educate for free, provide resources and do special promotions. If you are a woman, you can buy the option to invest 30 per cent less because historically women have been paid less," she adds. Concurs Menon, "Ground level awareness initiatives like workshops and one-to-one tutorials tailored to women can bridge the knowledge gap.

Improving accessibility through domestic user-friendly platforms which follow all regulatory requirements and ensuring a steady flow of funds, even token amounts such as low as INR 100 from women's pockets can help this cause."

ROAD AHEAD:

While the short and medium-term focus areas include awareness and education; women-centric platforms; regulatory clarity and security; and the influence of social media and role models, the long-term priorities need to be cultural shifts; gender inclusion; partnerships and integration with financial services.