Opinion by Elena Sinelnikova, Co-Founder of Metis and CryptoChicks
Despite significant progress, Web3 still has a long way to go in embracing the leadership and potential of the feminine community. According to Pantera Capital, women lead top crypto exchanges and earn 15% more than men. However, only about 13% of Web3 projects have female founders, and they receive merely 6% of the industry’s total funding.
The State of Women in Web3
Web3 events, conferences, and hackathons are primarily male-dominated, and there are predators lurking around. This is not what Web3 promises – inclusion and fairness for all. Women comprise around 50% of the global population, have over $31 trillion in spending power, and control 85% of consumer spending in the United States. Dismissing their leadership just doesn’t make sense for Web3.
Empowering the Marginalized Benefits All
Creating more women-centric corners in Web3 means more inclusivity and accessibility for everyone. It’s about breaking the monopoly of the hypermasculine ‘bro code’ that tends to exclude anything, or anyone, remotely feminine. The idea of a feminine frontier represents a cultural shift in Web3 – a call to build and nurture spaces where care, collaboration, empathy, and emotionality are celebrated.
The Power of Feminine Spaces
Feminine spaces emerge from the experience of facing marginalization in all shapes and sizes. Along with sisterhood, these experiences drive women to be more receptive, accepting, and giving. These qualities are also recurring concepts in any textbook definition of inclusion. That’s why diverse voices feel more heard and at home in feminine communities.
Breaking Generational Stereotypes
Onboarding more women to Web3 and creating more women-centric spaces will make the industry more inclusive internally and complement its external mission of fostering inclusivity in finance. However, breaking generational stereotypes is as challenging as replacing legacy business structures, if not harder. Women themselves are made to feel they are inferior, let alone being told so by others.
The Importance of Education and Mentorship
Statistical data showing that women-led businesses achieve significantly higher income growth or return on equity doesn’t seem to make a difference. Even the fact that companies with female leadership grow approximately twice as fast as their male-dominated counterparts fails to have the desired impact. The problem isn’t altogether rational or cognitive but rather psychological and deep-seated.
Building Women-Centric Communities
Women-centric communities are doing great at this. From cohorts to scholarships, they provide young, aspiring women the means to make it big in Web3 – not mere pep talk and lip service. As these female-centric communities grow, they’ll create more visibility overall for vibrant and inspiring women leading Web3’s evolution in different capacities.
A Positive Loop
This evolution will create a positive loop, motivating more young women to take the leap and stake their claim on emerging tech paradigms. Given the proper training and skills development – besides vision – women supported in this loop should be well-equipped to empathize with the users’ community worldwide. Web3 products and services can be more oriented toward solving real, even mundane, pains instead of fanning speculation to the moon.
A Movement to Break the Status Quo
What we’re seeing now – and calling for – is a movement to break the status quo that hampers Web3’s potential as an inclusion-first industry. Helping more women participate in the narrative and creating space for them to actively contribute is mission-critical. The frontier is feminine, especially with women and their allies putting so much dedication into building it.
Conclusion
The end is still far, but the journey has undoubtedly begun. It’s time to harness the potential of the feminine community and break barriers in Web3. By doing so, we can create a more inclusive industry that truly represents the diversity of the global population.
Elena Sinelnikova is the co-founder of Metis and CryptoChicks. In 2021, Elena was named one of 12 shortlisted honorees of Canada’s Top Women in Fintech and Blockchain by IT World Canada. In 2022, Elena was announced as one of the Top 20 Most Influential Women in Blockchain by Hardbacon.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
