As we continue to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of Web3, it’s essential to acknowledge a crucial aspect that often gets overlooked: the potential and contributions of women within this ecosystem.
According to Pantera Capital, not only do women lead top crypto exchanges, but they also earn 15% more than men. This is an impressive statistic that highlights the capabilities and achievements of women in the Web3 space. However, despite these accomplishments, there’s still a long way to go before we can truly harness the power of women in Web3.
The Current State of Women in Web3
Unfortunately, only about 13% of Web3 projects have female founders, and they receive mere 6% of the industry’s total funding. This disparity is not limited to funding; Web3 events, conferences, hackathons, and afterparties are often male-dominated. Moreover, there are concerns about predators lurking in these spaces.
The Importance of Inclusion
Web3 promises a future of inclusion and fairness for all, but this vision can only be realized by actively onboarding more women and creating safer spaces for them to contribute. With women comprising around 50% of the global population, having over $31 trillion in spending power, and controlling 85% of consumer spending in the United States, dismissing their leadership just doesn’t make sense.
Empowering the Marginalized
Creating more women-centric corners in Web3 means more inclusivity and accessibility for everyone. This is 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, calling on us to build and nurture spaces where care, collaboration, empathy, and emotionality are celebrated.
The Beauty 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, making diverse voices feel heard and at home.
Building the Feminine Frontier
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.
The Power of Women-Centric Communities
Women-centric communities are doing great at this. From cohorts to scholarships, they provide young, aspiring women with the means to make it big in Web3. These communities will create more visibility overall for vibrant and inspiring women leading Web3’s evolution in different capacities.
A Positive Loop
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.
The Movement Towards Inclusion
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 journey towards harnessing the power of women in Web3 has undoubtedly begun. With continued effort and dedication, we can create a future where Web3 is not only inclusive but also empowering for all individuals, regardless of gender.
