Crypto carries an image that it is a man’s playground, and leaves less room for women in this male-dominated field. However, female leaders, especially Yahoo! Europe founder Dana Al Salem, use blockchain to promote women’s rights.
Al Salem, who is a huge advocate for blockchain and its innate benefits across agencies, shows that there are women in blockchain who seek to carve a space for women in a world filled with “crypto bros.” As the founder of the tech service firm FanFactory Ltd, she is particular about the capabilities of blockchain technology as it is a technical backbone for multiple sectors.
“That’s why I like blockchain because it is industry agnostic. Al Salem said, ” you can apply it to agriculture, shipping, and so many different sectors,” Al Salem said.
One of the sectors that blockchain may bridge empowerment to is women’s rights. Al Salem sheds light on the sorry state of women employment, where almost half of women around the world is unbanked. This hampers a huge portion of financial freedom, especially land ownership.
“Forty-two percent of women are unbanked, and when you talk about land ownership less than 20% of the land around the world is owned by women. You have certain regions of the world that are better and other regions where the statistics are lacking around women’s IDs,” Al Salem shared.
Blockchain serves as a solution to the problem of unbanked women, as IDs are not needed to create a cryptocurrency wallet. Because blockchain is built on an immutable ledger, data cannot be altered and are guarded with top-notch security measures. Hence, women’s identities are also protected.
“And that’s also where blockchain can help because if you don’t have an ID, it means that you can’t have a bank account, means that you can’t have financial independence, it means you can own land, etc,” asserted Al Salem.
Only a minority comprises the number of women in executive positions in the financial technology (FinTech) industry. According to the 2021 Findexable report, only 5.6% of women are FinTech CEOs. To spark a movement among fellow FinTech enthusiasts to take on leadership roles, Diddy Wheldon and Ruth Heasman co-founded the Women of BSV.
Women of BSV is a group of female influencers who banded together to seek to create an impact within the cryptocurrency and blockchain space. Aside from spreading the BSV message that a scalable blockchain is the future, the Women of BSV aims to sculpt a safe space for women in this male-dominated tech industry. With its formation, it has also achieved women representation within the blockchain space.
From a December 2021 report from TheStreet, it found that less than 5% of all crypto entrepreneurs are women. Conversely, according to Mastercard, there is also a rise of women investing in blockchain-powered digital assets like crypto and NFTs. Women of BSV stands to strengthen the gradual momentum of women venturing into blockchain.
Heasman, in an interview with Coingeek’s “The Bitcoin Bridge,” acknowledged the feeling of intimidation she felt and the struggles she had working in a male-dominated landscape. She expounds her reason on why she wants women to join together, as “being together is a source of confidence for each other.” Heasman says that the group has “amplified our voice massively.”
Through harnessing the collective efforts of empowered women in the field of FinTech, true women representation and women’s rights can be achieved. All it takes for this advocacy to move forward is for the remaining women in blockchain to follow the trailblazers.
Jessica is engaged in brand exposure at LandscapeInsight. She brings forth content that helps both the reader and brands based on research and trends. You can reach Jessica at –jessica@landscapeinsight.com or on Our website Contact Us Page.
