Technology has predominantly been a male-dominated sector; the lack of equal representation has made certain tech spaces become a breeding ground for gender biases and discrimination and the cryptocurrency industry is not left out.
Although crypto was made to promote freedom from repression, there is an evident gender gap. Of the 378 venture-backed crypto and blockchain companies founded globally between 2012 and 2018, only one had an all-female founding team, and only 31 (8.2%) had a combination of male and female founders. Outside of leadership, women are grossly under-represented in the workforce, with 95% of people in the blockchain industry being men, according to the Global Crypto User Index. Project Syndicate also posits that the overall female labour-force participation rate in sub-Saharan Africa has reached 61%, yet women constitute only 30% of professionals in the tech industry.
The world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, Binance, understands the importance of gender inclusivity in the blockchain world and has continued to create opportunities and initiatives tailored to meet these demands. For International Women’s Month, Binance Africa rolled out an 8-week Bootcamp to equip women with the necessary tools and skills for a career in blockchain. The participants in this training session will work on hands-on projects and build important critical thinking skills with real-world problems and solutions. Furthermore, Binance Charity, the philanthropic arm of Binance, launched the MamaToTheRescue project to strengthen the Kenyan economy and empower women with new and sustainable technical skills. Binance Charity sourced and donated sewing machines, creating job opportunities for local women.
Beyond its women-empowerment initiatives, Binance has also fostered a company culture that is not afraid to innovate and break the status quo. The company is one of the few tech companies with a sizeable number of women holding senior positions across many of its departments including, He Yi, Co-founder, and Chief Marketing Officer of Binance; Helen Hai, Head of Binance Charity and Binance NFT; Damilola Odufuwa, Head of Product Communications; Carine Dikambi, Francophone Africa Lead; Laura Li, Country Manager for Africa and Zane Wong, Director of KYC Compliance.
The Francophone Africa Lead, Carine Dikambi, believes blockchain technology is a transformative technology that improves lives and delivers financial freedom and inclusion for millions. On the power of crypto and women’s rights, Damilola Odufuwa, Head of Product Communications, says, “I’ve always been passionate about financial inclusion for women. I was sold as soon as I realized the impact crypto and blockchain technology could have on women’s rights. I was determined to use my experience in media and communications to aid the conversation on how tech & crypto can work hand-in-hand with tech & women’s rights to democratize the microphone that has traditionally been reserved to those in power. Of course, I was also drawn to the industry’s influence, use cases, transparency, and rapidly evolving nature.”
For Binance, the goal is to build a more inclusive ecosystem, while continuously innovating and creating freedom of money for people all over the world. The exchange platform urges all other centralized exchanges to work towards building a more balanced ecosystem to break the bias and create freedom of repression for all.
