Will Bitcoin bring financial equality for women and other under-represented groups?

On International Women’s Day 2021, over a decade since the launch of Bitcoin, there still exists a large imbalance in the ratio of women to men who are investing, using or building upon cryptocurrencies. Is the new technology failing to resonate with women, or are there systemic problems that are not being addressed?

The true number of women who hodl is of course impossible to tell. There are likely more than any study will account for, but there is no doubt the disparity exists. Reported figures have shown a consistent rise in sentiment among women and the number of women traders has been increasing year-on-year, but women still only amount to just 15% of Bitcoin traders.

Cryptocurrency, despite being weighed down by poorly-fit regulations, opens the door to financial independence for everyone, indiscriminately. While tangible, systematic segregation is woven through the history of money, a concerted global effort to support open technology like Bitcoin will be the greatest equalizing force ever seen.

What has led to the crypto gender gap?

The disparity in Bitcoiners’ gender representation is hard to draw solid conclusions from. One benchmark figure is that only around 18% of computer science graduates across the last decade have been women, but you don’t need a degree to use Bitcoin. The social element of early adoption saw Bitcoin regarded much like video games — something for everyone, but perceived as intrinsically male.

As a financial product, Bitcoin’s user base is segmented in a way that reflects under-representation of women and minorities in the financial sector. The number of women retail investors only recently began to close in on the number of men, now at around 4% fewer Trading is another story entirely, where women only make up a quarter of the number, by some estimates.

With women showing a slightly higher aptitude for trading and markets becoming more accessible, we can hope that the financial sector becomes more diverse, and quickly. But Bitcoin is much more than a tradable asset, and decentralized markets like those built for Bitcoin have the potential to fast-track inclusive finance for literally everyone, operating at all hours.

For each and every person, there is something to gain from using Bitcoin, they just need to know the problem it solves for them and how to do so. This is well evidenced by the fact that 93% of the women surveyed in Grayscale’s 2019 investor study would be more open to Bitcoin if there were more resources to learn from, and the number for men wasn’t far off either, at 84%.

The perceived level of know-how needed to buy and transact Bitcoin has always been a barrier for any groups of people outside STEM or finance. Teaching people how to use cryptocurrency is the greatest bottleneck the industry faces, but we’re getting better.

Social inclusivity to $100K and beyond

The learning curve for cryptocurrency is steeper than it is for fiat. Not everyone is expected to take an interest in how it works; learning about money for the sake of it is not something everyone gets excited by. But everyone has the right to benefit from Bitcoin, and it’s easier to use than ever.

Bitcoin has value because it solves particular economic and social problems. Like the fact that millions of people can’t open a bank account, that national currencies are being devalued, or that you can’t easily send money to a friend abroad. To be effective in these goals, it has to be usable by everyone.

A wealth of resources are available, from basic to advanced concepts relevant to Bitcoin and other digital assets. To get your head around the technology, refer to some of the many hours of reading materials and instructional videos in different languages created by the community. But the best approach is to learn by doing. Technologies like Trezor offer a safe, intuitive environment that let anyone acquire and use Bitcoin right away.

Bitcoin is a problem solver

First and foremost, Bitcoin solved a longstanding problem: how to move value over a network. This unlocked the potential for a thousand other innovations. Bitcoin gives everyone in the world a safe way to acquire and protect their wealth, can monetize stranded energy, resist censorship, and be used to fund charities with transparency.

Women have historically seen a lower share of wealth distribution than men. Many countries still see a lower percentage of women with bank accounts, but Bitcoin offers a new way to take custody without needing to trust a bank, which can restore independence to unbanked women and men across the world. As internet access improves, many millions of people will benefit from the self-custody of cryptocurrencies.

There’s a lot of information about Bitcoin that doesn’t really matter to the groups who will benefit from it most. Things like day-trading, tokenizing tweets, or brigading for a project on social media, introduce unnecessary noise that distract from the mission to give people access to money regardless of background or social status.

Addressing the problem

The basics of Bitcoin are easy to grasp. Getting a hardware wallet will give you a one-stop solution that will hold your coins secure for years. Starting out, you may only want to send transactions to friends or family. Learning how a transaction works will be enough to get going, then you might want to know a bit more about the different types of addresses.

How to secure digital assets: Financial independence in the Bitcoin age

A basic foundation in custody will serve millions of people who were overlooked by old finance. With in-built solutions that fix stuck transactions, mask your network connections, and even create a theft-resistant backup, Trezor makes it easy to advance from newbie to confident cryptonaut without needing to wade through dodgy sites or interact with any scammers or opportunists.

The future of wealth is individual custody

The gender balance of the cryptocurrency industry has been lop-sided since its inception but it appears to have been a matter of the context it evolved in, rather than exclusionist practices.

Many female founders have enjoyed a lot of success and recognition for their work and each year more women innovators bring new projects to the table, helping to direct the ecosystem in universal design that will help scale Bitcoin to reach every individual.

As the community rapidly expands, it comes into contact with all types of people, each with their own aspirations. Equality is the default in Bitcoin: just as no government can censor it, it is not capable of excluding a user based on their identity. In the coming years, this will be critical to undermine the balance of power and redistribute wealth among groups which have been thus far neglected.

Taking control of your wealth is just the first step. Equality is a cornerstone of progress and Bitcoin offers staying power to any social movement. As a community, Bitcoiners everywhere should step up to the challenge and help onboard everyone who will benefit from having custody over their money.