Why More Women Need to Get Into Crypto, Today
Crypto's financial and career opportunities are pro-women
Happy Leap Year! As Bitcoin surges to its record high in 2024, I've had a couple friends and family ask me questions about crypto, which got me really thinking about why so few women are in crypto.
My first exposure to crypto was a happy-go-lucky accident.
It was 2018. I was in between jobs and about to break into tech recruitment so just thought I'd use the time to self-study Bitcoin online with free resources, just to educate myself on this financial movement.
Equipped with what I felt was enough research, I went to a booth in a seedier part of town armed with cash like a mafioso. I deposited the cash into a three-lettered crypto exchange (which is now dead), and made my first purchases of Bitcoin and ETH. I used all my USD savings I had from working in America, because I wanted this experiment to be meaningful. If there was a price movement, I wanted to feel it so I learn something.
Bitcoin was 8k at the time.
Fast forward 5 years later, we are emerging from a bear market and Bitcoin is at 64k today. It's up 176% from last year, and up 700% from when I bought it - which I never expected. What's even more unexpected is that I'd be working in the crypto gaming industry today, hoarding odd NFTs of Mushrooms and post-apocalypse avatars.
Gemini's research says that 26% crypto holders are women. How is it that a permissionless world like web3 could have such low participation from women?
Why are women passing up on the Crypto world in the first place?
When I was in tech recruitment, some female candidates would laugh when I pitched them a role with a crypto exchange. Even if the comp was great. Even if the role nature was exactly what they're gunning for.
These are the major reasons why women don't touch crypto:
Perceived as “too risky”
Perceived bro culture (viral article of of Miami strip clubs at a crypto conference doesn't help! Crypto twitter calling everyone "bro" doesn't help!)
Massive learning curve (gas, L1/L2, cold storage, hot wallets, non-fungible tokens, more word vomit)
There's a huge perception problem with crypto. I wish the crypto industry would hire a PR firm to rebrand itself.
Headlines about crypto tend to be about regulators going after crypto titans like FTX, which sends shockwaves through the media - as it should - the world should know about bad actors in the industry. But what about the wider crypto industry and what it means for society?
Take Bitcoin, for example. Satoshi Nakomoto never rugged anyone. He/She/They just invented a decentralized digital currency with a fixed supply of 21 million coins, and it happens to be an awesome hedge against the Fed printing money like there’s no tomorrow.
What about the power of crypto to "bank the unbanked" and bring financial empowerment to people who have been left out of our traditional finance system? What about art NFTs that are actually adding value to the world while giving artists due credit in royalties? What about the tens of thousands of people in developing countries whose lives have improved because of Play-to-Earn crypto games putting food on their table?
The public needs to be educated about crypto as an asset class, and as an agent of financial empowerment. Viewing the crypto industry purely through the lens of mass media is a recipe for ignorance.
In this day and age, Crypto is the new Property
In today's landscape where money is being printed to fund wars that countries cannot afford at the expense of people's livelihoods, the crypto movement presents an opportunity to create generational wealth.
In my parents' generation, the biggest wealth divider was those who bought property early on, and those who didn't. It was completely viable for the working class in the 70's and 80's in Hong Kong to save up, get a mortgage, and realistically pay it off with hard work. Those that did get property reaped incredible financial rewards in the 90's, and got out of the working class.
In this generation, property is still wonderful to have as a roof over your head. But beyond that, the gains are dwindling. Rising interest rates mean fat mortgages on top of already ridiculous price levels of properties in developed countries, while the global economy is taking a crap, and firms across finance and tech industries are making mass layoffs.
I predict that Crypto - especially Bitcoin - is going to be the new wealth divide. We will see the biggest wealth gap between early adopters of Bitcoin and the no-coiners.
We are on the precipice of mass adoption of crypto. 2023 was the first year when I settled bar tabs with people from out of town in ETH or stablecoin because nobody wants to exchange cash at an FX booth. That's one signal for me that mass adoption is coming.
Women need to grab this opportunity to get involved in the crypto movement. By becoming early adopters, women can open up a completely new avenue to build wealth for themselves and their children, in the permissionless world of decentralized technology where the chips aren't stacked against you for being female.
If I learned anything in my Economics degree, it's that every portfolio can benefit from diversification. So why not diversify by buying some crypto?
Take advantage of the accessibility of self-education, trading and staking at your fingertips
Entering the crypto world may seem intimidating to women due to its perceived "bro" culture and technical jargon. Yes, it is a challenge. But it's not impossible. Strangely enough, I know more women who have studied extremely difficult subjects like Chemical Engineering and Medicine, yet do not own crypto.
Information about breaking into crypto is so readily available in this day and age. Exchanges offer awesome free resources to learn about crypto. Twitter captures market sentiment in crypto like no other.
Learn to Google, read whitepapers, take notes, and experiment with small amounts until you understand how it works.
Once you familiarize yourself with wallets and exchanges, you can easily navigate the web3 ecosystem from the comfort of your couch with a glass of red wine. Trading can be done through user-friendly platforms, right at your fingertips. And if you stake your crypto assets, you earn while you sleep. Forget about the 5% yields from bonds - it's lovely and safe, but we're all about the multi-digit yields in crypto.
It's easier to doomscroll on Instagram and drink too much wine with friends than to do thorough research on Blockchain technology. I get it. But it might be worth it for you to do the hard thing and learn. It is much easier to onboard to web3 than say, learning how to code, and the returns are probably higher.
Don't be old. Age is nothing but a number. The moment you stop learning is the moment you are old.
The Web3 industry offers the most underrated work environments for moms
The decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies opens up numerous remote career opportunities within the industry. Moms looking to regain control of their time and achieve a better work-life balance should seriously consider web3.
From Blockchain Developers to Community Managers to PR Specialists to Accounting, the crypto industry welcomes talent from every skillset - provided that you have proven that you are web3 native.
People tend to be really nice in this industry. Yes, NFT bros are a special breed, but as a whole, I find the web3 world much more welcoming to an Asian female like myself than the corporate world is.
As a mom, you might love the 100% remote work environment that most web3 careers offer. You set your work hours in your calendar. And if you're in an external facing role like I am in Business Development, you send people a Calendly link to book you in and that syncs up with your calendar. I don't ever have to worry about people hijacking my evenings with my kids. They couldn't even if they wanted to - they don't have my phone number because the web3 world operates on Telegram.
It took time for me to get used to video calls, but I love it now. I'm 5 foot 2 on a good day. As a salesperson, I do feel that my height works against me in the real world setting. I feel very unconvincing when I'm trying to sell to someone and my head is up to their pelvis. But I don't have this problem on video calls.
Because people are relatively young and way hipper than me in this industry, I haven't felt any gender discrimination whatsoever. You wake up and tell each other "GM Fam." You don't talk about politics, race, or gender. You just talk about what you're going to build together in the world of web3. The rest is all noise.
You don't have to go to "work drinks" in the evening. You don't have to wear heels, ever.
If you work at a major crypto exchange, you'll have awesome health benefits and the best insider information to the markets one can ever ask for.
So if you are a mom having a career crisis, consider the web3 world. It’s the best kept secret.
"I'm a No-Coiner. Bitcoin is at 64k now. Am I too late?"
I don't think so.
I'm not a crypto OG nor a crypto expert. I didn't get in when it was $800. I got in at $8k which at the time I thought was too late.
But let's think about this. The Bitcoin ETF is already approved. Not enough social proof? Well we have a whole pipeline of goodies coming:
The Bitcoin Halving - the reward for mining Bitcoin gets cut in half every 4 years. This creates scarcity. Scarcity sends prices up. Don't believe me, check the historical charts
Possibly an Ethereum ETF mid-2024
Financial institutions getting approval from regulators to sell BTC and ETH to clients - the floodgates are opening
US Election coming, read: more reckless money printing = time to hedge
There are wars happening right now. Some are real wars, some are cold wars. In either case, countries need to get armed and pay for weapons in crypto
Thousands of web3 games coming live in 2024 which I think will pave the way for mass adoption (biased gamer opinion, beware)
I could be completely wrong. But one of my favorite pieces of investment advice from my dad is, "Minimize your maximum regret." So get in on the crypto movement with a smidgen of your net worth, so you don't rip your hair out with regret when you realize your little experiment could have paid for your child's 4 years of college.
As you should with traditional stocks, buy blue chips unless you have seriously convincing intel. Don't lose your shirt by sinking $100k into a JPEG of a salmon.
The bull run is coming. I hope to see you on the other side!
This post is not professional financial advice. Do your own research and maybe even consult a financial professional as needed. But if your financial professional doesn't recommend a portfolio with BTC and ETH in it, tell them to get stuffed ;)