Women in Cryptocurrency and Blockchain

Where Are the Ladies?

How many women develop cryptocurrency-related businesses and technologies? The few survey results that are available provide disappointing news, with women’s participation in cryptocurrency specialties even worse than in IT.

Here’s a summary of available metrics, which describes female participation in the cryptocurrency field in general. (Breakdowns for women developers are not available.)

Learning and Networking Resources

It’s important that women’s participation in cryptocurrency business and blockchain tech happens quickly. Early adopters who develop blockchains and invest in cryptocurrencies before they go mainstream get the lion’s share of their wealth and influence.

Unless women get involved soon, two important opportunities might get missed: the chance to make their mark on modern finance and the moment to share the wealth that new, successful technologies bring.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Whether you are a woman—at any stage in your career—trying to break into cryptocurrency, or perhaps you are writing a grant to obtain support for women in crypto-related pursuits, this directory contains a comprehensive set of resources.

Look out! Since the first half of 2022, the number, quality, and visibility of growth opportunities have exploded. Just take a look at the Global Women in Blockchain home page to see how the variety of resources has flourished.

Keep reading this guide. It contains the information, events, and support that can help launch your future in blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

Celebrating Milestones and Meeting Challenges

The articles, blog posts, and videos listed in this section paint a detailed picture of women’s status in blockchain careers and cryptocurrency businesses.

Progress So Far

First, the good news: here are positive current events and status reports, which describe the progress of women overcoming entrenched gender bias and moving blockchain tech forward:

• Women in STEM – A great resource listing that details female participation in STEM careers. The vast majority of existing peer-reviewed research relevant to crypto careers actually focuses on STEM, making this a great starting point.
• Why Aren’t There More Women In Blockchain? – This article was distributed by NPR Science Friday. The part of the interview on the stakes of women getting into the blockchain community adds something new to the discussion of women’s participation in the field.
• Blockchain And Beyond: Wave Or Storm? – Thoughts of a distinguished blockchain technologist who keeps company with venture capitalists, CEOs of high-growth enterprises, and authors of books about WWII lady cryptographers.
• CryptoChicks crash the male cryptocurrency party – A profile of CryptoChicks, whose sole mission is to improve gender balance and participation of women in the blockchain and cryptocurrency communities.
• Women and Blockchain: Why You Should Care – An article written by a man, whose optimistic voice fights off the dreary participation statistics.
• Women invest in Blockchain they believe in, seeing it as a way to “make the world a better place” – The author of this article—a female crypto consultant working for a cryptomining hardware manufacturer—reminds readers that women invest in the blockchain tech they believe in, seeing it as a way to make the world better.
• This International Women’s Day, Let’s Celebrate the Women in Blockchain – An invitation, this time to celebrate International Women’s Day by spreading the word about the accomplishments of women in blockchain.
• Women’s High-Tech Coalition’s “Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Policy 101” – A video of the Bloomberg Government High-Tech Coalition’s discussion of “Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Policy 101.”
• The Use Cases and Applications for Involving Women in Blockchain – A progress report on gender parity in the cryptocurrency field.
• Involving women in cryptocurrency will benefit the industry – A review article, which describes how marketing to and involving women in cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency-related services can expand the finance industry.
• Start-Up Bus: Women in Blockchain – Put 30 women on a bus. Give them 72 hours to invent, build, and launch a blockchain startup. Read this article to find out what this journey is all about.
• CIO Monica Eaton-Cardone: Women in FinTech Can Boost Bitcoin and Blockchain Growth – As of our date of publication, one in eight women (13 percent) are now thinking about investing in cryptocurrencies, as demand among men levels out. Read the details here.
• Canadian Women in Blockchain Building Up the Industry – A review of powerhouse Canadian women professionals in blockchain—and the progress that remains to be done.
• Women in Blockchain: Priyanka Sharma, Chief of Staff at WazirX Shares her Story – Tales of success and harassment of Indian women in blockchain.
• Femergy ICO – Learn about Moms Avenue, which has evolved into Femergy. This social entrepreneurship project combines cutting-edge technology and an innovative reward-based business model. It’s designed to get women involved in a blockchain-based market.
• Blockchain banking will empower low-income women – A use case of how smartphones and blockchain technology can empower women in developing nations to control money that they generate.
• Can blockchain technology solve problems for low-income women? – A financial insider’s view of how blockchain can help change the lives of low-income women.
• With Blockchain, Sub-Saharan Women Move Forward Without Bias – An example of blockchain tech helping women farmers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. With blockchain, women can overcome gender bias and start bank accounts without the permission of male relatives.
• Blockchain Technology Explained and What It Could Mean for the Caribbean – A brief review of the promise and challenges of blockchain technology and its potential benefits to finance in the Caribbean.

Meeting the Challenges

There are still plenty of obstacles to balanced gender diversity in the fields of blockchain tech, cryptocurrency, and fintech. The following content describes some of the lingering biases and current events:

• Bitcoin, disruption and women in fintech… – This article claims that fintech and cryptocurrency-related careers are unattractive to women because these fields are geeky and disruptive to established institutions.
• Why Is Silicon Valley So Awful to Women? – Here’s a detailed, well-written, and well-intentioned account from The Atlantic describing how tech companies underestimate the quality and importance of their female employees.
• Women as Blockchain Talent and Women as a Global Market – After a conventional look at women’s participation in blockchain tech, this article connects women’s experience in blockchain with trends in STEM occupations.
• Bitcoin’s gender divide could be a bad sign, experts say – This article argues that because women are fundamentally risk-averse, if women aren’t trading bitcoin, it’s too risky to be a sustainable investment.
• New Industry, Same Issues — Diversity in Crypto – Start with a simple pie chart. Then, follow recent evidence of women’s participation in the cryptocurrency community.
• Women in Cryptocurrencies Push Back Against ‘Blockchain Bros’ – This is the now-classic “blockchain bros” article from the New York Times.
• Smart Women and Risk-taking – A report on risk, based on a series of 50 interviews of female risk-takers across the world. Its conclusion: risk tolerance is shaped more deeply by life experience, personality, education and/or chance events than by gender.
• Time to Acknowledge – and Encourage – Women in Blockchain – A male author acknowledges the structural obstacles and hidden biases that contribute to the low participation of women in blockchain.
• How Women Could Send Bitcoin to the Moon – The mainstream financial press acknowledges that women’s participation in the cryptocurrency market would be a good thing.
• The Negative Impact Of Having ‘All Women Panels’ at Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conferences – Nearly all male conference speakers at recent blockchain events sparked controversy and made many event organizers consider all-women panelists. This article makes the argument that this might not be a good idea.
• Cryptocurrencies for Change: Why We Need Women on the Blockchain – A review of the pluses and minuses of women’s status in the blockchain and cryptocurrency communities.
• Including Women in Digital Economy – Article discusses the global need for women’s financial literacy and how blockchain technology can help provide it.

Getting Started in Cryptocurrency Development

In theory, anyone can enter the field of blockchain programming or cryptocurrency business development. But, theory isn’t life. Making a serious contribution to the field requires ferocious determination, a killer network, and dynamite knowledge and skills.

The good news is, you can start breaking into blockchain- and digital currency-related fields by taking action and using resources that are available— right here, right now.

Get Inspired

Meet Blockchain’s Women Pioneers

The following profiles confirm that women in the blockchain tech, cryptocurrency, and fintech space have important contributions to make.

These articles, videos, and infographics put human faces on a broad range of professional accomplishments. Each piece of content provides a clear picture of what these women think is important and what each person contributes to their professional community.

• The Woman Who Could Help Build A Blockchain Winner – Opinionated, dedicated and utterly fearless, Blythe Masters made the leap from Wall Street to digital currencies in 2016.
• 3 Women That Prove That Blockchain Technology Isn’t Just For Men – Profiles of three women, whose accomplishments make it clear: women have a legitimate place at the blockchain/cryptocurrency table.
• Interview with Caterina Ferrara, founder of Blockchain Ladies – This interview features Caterina Ferrara, whose first goal is “to promote the female presence in [the blockchain tech] field and above all, the collaboration between blockchain professionals.”
• 24 Women in Blockchain/Crypto You Should Be Following – Brief mentions of the roles and contributions of 24 influential women in the blockchain.
• 5 Women to Watch in the Blockchain Space – Five women who are making a place for themselves in the digital future.
• Women in blockchain – Meet Modex’s Technical Project Manager – In this interview, Laura Manescu describes what it’s like to lead a blockchain engineering team—in Romania.
• 8 Influential Women Making Headlines in Blockchain – Eight women, who lead companies that use blockchain tech in innovative ways.
• Sharing the Inspiration of Women in Blockchain – In this video, six women pioneers share the inspiration of women in blockchain.
• An Interview with Rachel Wolfson – Get the story of a female entrepreneur, who made the leap from technical writing to the blockchain space.  
• Meet Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Industry’s Top Female Advocates – Every new technology needs advocates, and this article profiles influential women, who promote cryptocurrency investment, often in household-name firms such as Goldman Sachs.
• Strategies from the “Joan of Arc of Blockchain” – Toni Lane Casserly offers useful strategies for women entering the cryptocurrency space.

Get Educated

Make Digital Currency Part of Your Future

Getting an unvarnished view of the professional environment in digital currency is an important first step. Inspiration provides the necessary fuel to move forward.

But, successful participation in the field depends on a deep understanding of the technologies and a talent for innovation. What new business uses might you develop and grow with blockchain technologies?

You can accelerate your professional development by finding and practicing with affordable, accessible resources that you can start using now.

Blockchain Resources for Tech

It’s an exciting time to be a student of blockchain programming. Online and face-to-face cryptocurrency courses are finding their way into high schools, colleges, and business schools.

College students are crypto mining in dorm rooms. After-hours students have access to the latest programming technology.

High School Students
Interest in blockchain and cryptocurrency programming has reached into high schools across the country. Learning opportunities include:

• Attend a boot camp. New boot camps are emerging every day. Be sure to check out the faculty’s credentials ahead of time. Consider choosing one where the faculty has a career path close to what you’re envisioning; you could potentially ask one of them to be your mentor. Some examples of boot camps include:
  • The B9Lab Academy offers Ethereum- and Hyperledger-related instruction.
  • The Blockchain Academy offers classes in blockchain architecture, security, regulatory environment, and many other topics.
  • The Sabio coding boot camp offers instruction by carefully chosen teachers from Stack Overflow, Fox, Gamefly, TMZ, and UCLA.
  • CodeWizardsHQ offers learning opportunities that range from Python and web development coursework through Django and even real-world internships.
• Get an internship. High school students have a lot of internship options in the tech space. Common sources include a local university laboratory or a more official research program.
• Attend a hackathon. “Learn programming, build cool things.” That’s the motto of Minor League Hacking, the official league for high school student hackers in blockchain. Students compete in blockchain-related events. High school students are sometimes accepted to compete at Major League Hacking events, which are designed for college students.
• Start or join an after-school coding club. Girls Who Code started as a coding club for 20 middle school girls in New York City. Now, it’s a national nonprofit organization that works to close the gender gap in technology, Founding an after-school club also offers you valuable leadership experience that you can tout anywhere from your college application through your resume.
• Attend a pre-college summer program. These provide a taste of a future in programming and often include some elements of career counseling, so you can start to map out your future.
  • Sponsored by Microsoft, DigiGirlz High Tech Camp works with young women in the U.S. and overseas to dispel stereotypes and give them a preview of a future in tech.
  • The GE Girls program encourages young women with a technical frame of mind to pursue a math or engineering career.

College Students

There are several ways for college students to build their blockchain and fintech expertise. Joining groups will help you get oriented in blockchain development and practice technical skills.

• Attend public lectures. Sponsored by women’s professional computing groups, these talks are generally open to the public. For example, the Women’s Blockchain & Cryptocurrency for Beginners is sponsored by the Gyals Network, a group that sponsors accelerator labs and other events for women in fintech.
• Get an internship. College students who want to get real-life experience and skills in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space can start at these well-known sites:
  • Blocktribe – Blocktribe provides mainly blockchain developer opportunities for students looking for internships.
  • Glassdoor – Search for blockchain-related and other internship opportunities at a major job and recruiting site.
  • Simply Hired – This major job and recruiting site offers both cryptocurrency investment and trading opportunities, as well as internships in blockchain development.
• Attend a hackathon. College students can show that they have the right stuff at these programming competitions. Start by checking with your computer science department to see if you have any existing affiliations through your school. Look into finding local Major League Hacking events; they sponsor a series of annual, local events. Each event offers a full day of workshops, activities, freebies, and more.
• Join extracurricular special interest groups, or start your own. These include blockchain research groups, such as student-led initiatives established at Duke University and UC Berkeley. These universities in the U.S. and overseas have developed new research initiatives. You can always start your own! Members of BEN (Blockchain Education Network) take another approach—creating research groups from the ground up.

Technical Beginners or Continuing Education

No matter your age or level of professional experience, continuing education can be an effective way to learn and keep up with the latest blockchain skills and knowledge. Here’s a wide assortment of solo and group learning opportunities.

Videos

Designed for solo learning, these free videos vary in length and topics, but they all provide beginners with useful introductions to different aspects of the blockchain universe.

• What is a blockchain? – This video presents a very intuitive way to start your understanding of blockchain technology and provides some important use cases.
• Blockchain: massively simplified – The evolution of blockchain technology from the internet era and the characteristic features of normal databases to that of a blockchain distributed Ledger.
• Blockchain- A short introduction – The explanation starts with the need for money and the evolution of blockchain technology from the bitcoin cryptocurrency. The explanation continues with a demonstration of how blockchain technology can reduce the transactional costs and provide digital identity to currency or any real-world object.
• Blockchain – Demystified – Explains the origin of the internet and blockchain technology.
• How does Blockchain work- Simply explained – Compares blockchain technology with a digital notary. Bitcoin as an application of blockchain technology and how it solved the double spend problem.
• What is Blockchain? – This video explains the positive and negative implications of blockchain technology and its impact on the real world.
• Why blockchain matters more than you think – This video from Coldfusion TV explains the working of the cryptographic features of the blockchain technology The video concludes by explaining the smart contract concept in a very simple fashion by considering a real-world scenario.

Online Course Materials

There are a wide variety of online programs that can guide you through specific curricula that deal with blockchain technology. These range from solo learning opportunities all the way through get-togethers with other learners to create your own blockchain “school.”

• Khan Academy: Bitcoin – Khan Academy is a passionate provider of all kinds of free online education. This course includes nine extensive videos that talk about bitcoin, the Bitcoin blockchain, bitcoin transactions, proof of work consensus rules, and other basics.
• Bitcoin, Altcoins & Blockchain – Originally designed for Stanford University students, this highly regarded course includes lecture notes for students who want to sweat the details of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency topics include bitcoin and Ethereum, smart contracts, distributed ledger technologies, and consensus systems.
• Ethereum 101 – This course provides all the juicy details that underlie the Ethereum blockchain technology. It begins with an introduction to blockchain technology with a focus on Ethereum. The course then describes the underlying Ethereum blockchain and distributed ledger technologies and how Ethereum works.

• Introduction to Digital Currencies – This is the first free cryptocurrency massive open online course (MOOC). The 12-part course, which is presented by the University of Nicosia, covers bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from economic, legal, financial, and social perspectives.
• Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies – Presented by Princeton University via Coursera, this course includes 11 weeks of online material. Topics include how bitcoin works, and what makes bitcoin secure. Free course content includes 12 lecture videos and 11 lecture slides.

Development Bootcamps

Here’s a sampling of the many online and in-person boot camps available to current or future blockchain developers.

• Blockchain and Crypto – Provided on the Switchup online platform, this mini-directory of for-fee coding boot camps lists face-to-face learning opportunities in the U.S., Canada, and overseas.
• 1st Online Coding School with Blockchain – Offered by HackReactor, this online course focuses on coding blockchain applications.

Books and White Papers

If you want to get down to the history and technical details of blockchain technology, it pays to read the information in these books and white papers.

• Mastering Bitcoin: Unlocking Digital Cryptocurrencies – This is the ultimate guide to Bitcoin and blockchain mechanics. It provides a guide to understanding Bitcoin, what it is, how it works, and what it means for humanity as a whole.
• Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Is Changing the World – Written to inform players in the corporate world for the next decade and beyond, this classic explores how blockchain technology will probably have a great effect on the current and future world economy.
• Consensus – Immutable agreement for the internet of value – This paper by KPMG analyzes the different consensus mechanisms and how they work. It also summarizes the use of these mechanisms in various distributed ledger technologies.
• Digital Gold: The Untold Story of Bitcoin – Provides a number of interesting inside stories and deep insights. As such, it is one of the most captivating of books targeted at anyone who is interested in blockchain and bitcoin.

If you want to build a future in cryptocurrency business and entrepreneurship, there are plenty of learning resources for you, too.

Resources for Cryptocurrency Investors and Blockchain Entrepreneurs

Interest in cryptocurrency investment and entrepreneurship has reached courses, programs, and activities across the U.S. and overseas. If you want to learn about cryptocurrencies—the business use cases of blockchain tech—here’s where to start.

Business education and training for high school students are offered through cryptocurrency-related:

• Internships – Check out A Cryptocurrency Research Summer Program, a directory of internships for business-minded students interested in cryptocurrencies.
• Extracurricular clubs – There are many examples of U.S. high schools sponsoring after-school clubs for entrepreneurs. If you want to start one from scratch and start your own club, you can get ideas for clubs and startup process information online.
• Pre-college summer programs – This is the most comprehensive list that we could find.

Business-centered boot camps, which include:

• Bitcoin Bootcamp – Panel discussions, lectures, and other events sponsored by Eventbrite.
• Cryptocurrency Made Easy: A Beginners Bootcamp includes sessions on bitcoin and altcoin investing, altcoin trading, and ICO investing.

• Internships – Cryptocurrency-related internships are a hot item. You’ll find many opportunities online. At DRW Internships, for example, the focus is on business-side data analytics for college and post-graduate students. Another cryptocurrency Internship guide provides more than 130 internship opportunities for business and technical students.
• Startup pitch competitions – Whether the event is a fast-pitch event or a standard business startup competition, there are plenty of opportunities to design new cryptocurrency use cases and business models.
• Investment and business development clubs – Students won’t have to look far for a chance to develop cryptocurrency investment and entrepreneurial skills. Often, all it takes is to review a school’s directory of student groups. Some schools offer general-interest groups for entrepreneurs. Others include cryptocurrency-related clubs.

Continuing Education Resources for Cryptocurrency Business Pros

Do you prefer the DIY approach to cryptocurrency education? If so, you have a wide variety of free, continuing educational materials to choose from—and many more for-fee courses, too. Although some of these topics mention blockchain technology, business knowledge and skills are the emphasis.

Investment and Entrepreneurship Videos

These videos are a great place to start building successful cryptocurrency-based businesses.

• How To Buy Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin Investing For Beginners
• Cryptocurrency 101: Invest & Trade Like a Pro. This video course is designed for students in a hurry to learn and engage in day trading.
• Bitcoin Trading & Cryptocurrency. This video provides the basics of how to start trading with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
• Business Uses for cryptocurrencies. An IBM exec and blockchain specialist shares use cases of cryptocurrencies in business.
• Bitcoin Q&A: Here’s a video that shows how to operate a business with cryptocurrency.
• Cryptocurrency Business Launch: Watch this video of a cryptocurrency business launching from a Brooklyn loft.
• Bitcoin Q&A: Operating a business with cryptocurrency
• Bitcoin Q&A: Explain Bitcoin to my mother?

There are of course, many more examples of cryptocurrency trading and investment content, but many tend to emphasize getting rich quick or duplicate each other’s content.

Investment and Entrepreneurship Bootcamps

These camps help you develop the business smarts you need to invest, trade, and create successful cryptocurrency-based ventures.

• Cryptocurrency Investing Bootcamp™ – This four-day, in-person gathering focuses on cryptocurrency investors, traders, hedge funds, and private portfolio managers.
• 8 Week Cryptocurrency Trading & Investing Bootcamp – Run by Skills Incubator, this eight-week course focuses on helping learners become consistently successful crypto traders and investors.

Cryptocurrency Investment and Finance: Books and White Papers

Roam through these books and white papers to get a bit of financial and technology history and learn the connections between blockchain tech and today’s financial reality.

First, the books:

• The Age of Cryptocurrency: How Bitcoin and Digital Money Are Challenging the Global Order – This book provides a clear overview of cryptocurrencies and money generally. It connects cryptocurrencies with the concepts of finance and economics and describes how blockchain technologies are disrupting capitalism as we know it.
• ValueWeb: How Fintech Firms are Using Bitcoin Blockchain and Mobile Technologies to Create the Internet of Value – This book explores how fintech companies are building the value web by using a wide variety of technologies from the blockchain to mobile devices. The latest edition further discusses what this trend will mean for individuals, governments, and large financial institutions.
• The Business Blockchain – This book provides information about the business and profit potential of the blockchain, which of course, goes beyond cryptocurrencies. It can help business-minded individuals understand the value and importance of different aspects of blockchain technology.
• Bye Bye Banks? How Retail Banks are Being Displaced – This treatise explores how technology startups are disrupting the banking and financial services industries. It also provides important strategies that leaders of traditional banks can use as they move into the disruptive digital future.
• Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy – Improve your understanding of the disruption that distributed ledger technologies have already started. The book also explores the potential applications of this new technology with examples that are impressive and easy to digest.

These white papers provide blockchain basics for finance and business professionals and link blockchain tech with global business and finance trends.

• Blockchain: Technology Beyond Bitcoin – This is a great introductory white paper for anyone looking for a basic blockchain primer to relay to management. It reviews how Bitcoin technology works, how it functions in public discourse, and how it’s used as a payment system on underground and illicit websites.
• A brave new world? – DLT (distributed ledger technology) is the main technological development that attracts many to blockchain. This paper takes a brief look at this new technology and the implications it’s likely to have on the financial markets in Europe.
• Banking in a world of programmable assets – Focuses on the widening potential of blockchain technology, as well as what underpins this technology. The paper also talks about the creation of DCLs (distributed consensus ledgers), and the implications of blockchain on financial assets.
• Distributed Ledger Technology: Beyond Blockchain – This blockchain whitepaper clearly covers the technology, governance and regulation, security and privacy, disruptive potential, and the global perspectives of DLT.
• Digital Assets on Public Blockchains – This paper provides you with the basics of asset ledgers that are based on blockchain tech and how asset ledgers are used for the IoT (Internet of Things) in the financial services industry.

There’s more to success in blockchain development than coding wizardry. Creating a robust professional network and keeping it strong is essential, too.

Get Together

Participate in the Blockchain Community

If you’re a woman active in the cryptocurrency/blockchain field, you’re a pioneer. And, life as a pioneer is much better when you run with a posse of smart, determined peers.

There are more opportunities than ever for women in the blockchain/cryptocurrency universe to meet and form communities. Online or in-person, at networking events or hackathons, women are finding knowledge, opportunities, and a sense of solidarity in the community.

Conferences

There’s nothing like a conference to expand one’s skills, enthusiasm, and network. Here are examples of the fast-growing list of domestic and overseas meetings:

• 2022 Blockchain Events – This mini-directory provides information about blockchain-related events in the U.S. and overseas.
• 2018 Women in Blockchain Summit at UC-Irvine – Here are details about an UN-sponsored event that occurred in April 2018.
• Asset-Backed Crypto Summit – Here’s another list of 2022 blockchain-, cryptocurrency- and ICO-related events in the U.S. and overseas.
• Blockchain Africa Conference – This is an announcement of the 2023 conference scheduled for Johannesburg, South Africa.
• Blockchain Developer Conference – This announcement is for the annual event, which this year emphasizes building decentralized apps and infrastructures.
• Blockchain Futurist Conference – The 2022 event emphasizes the future of blockchain.
• Blockchain Innovation & Investment Summit – In 2022, this regional conference occurs in Dubai.
• Blockchain Summit 2022 – In this annual conference, tech experts, world leaders, and global changemakers meet to discuss how to build blockchain technology for everyone’s benefit.
• Blockchain Technology Conference – In 2022, this international conference emphasizes creating the future of business with blockchain.
• Chicago Blockchain Project – This evening-long event gathers local experts to discuss topics of interest to blockchain specialists.
• Cryptocurrency Conference 2022 – Sponsored by Token Fest, this event highlights the business of blockchain.
• Disrupt SF 2018 – This is the blockchain event designed for startups and the people who create, staff, and report on them.
• Malta Blockchain Summit – This year, the summit puts the spotlight on blockchain applications and ICOs.
• San Francisco Blockchain Week – Scheduled for October 2018, this educational event is designed for blockchain enthusiasts, developers, and entrepreneurs.
• SF BETA: Blockchain Edition – San Francisco’s #1 startup mixer invites blockchain developers, startup execs, and investors to meet and discuss the latest in all things blockchain.
• World Blockchain Technology Forum – This year, the forum emphasized blockchain use in small and mid-sized enterprises.

Many of these conferences are regional events, where participants are likely to hear about new technologies, standards, use cases, and ideas.

Meetups and Networking Events

If you prefer to engage with live human beings as well as commune online, these meetups, hackathons, networking sessions, and professional group chapter meetings will give you plenty of opportunities to meet—and compete—face to face.

• 2018 Blockchain Events: The #1 Guide to Blockchain – A month-by-month directory of U.S. and overseas events.
• “Code and Coffee” – Search for the closest one next to your hometown. Most cities and major towns have at least one event, which often occurs weekly.
• Develop your skills while you meet your peers at hackathons, such as Major League Hacking, Consensus 2018, or many local, regional, and national events.
  • Intro to Blockchain @WomenWhoCode
  • SAN FRANCISCO: Women in Crypto and Blockchain Panel & Mixer …
  • ShapeShift at Blockchain Week NYC 
  • UN Women Hackathon on blockchain & identity in Oslo May 11th-12th …
  • Women in Blockchain meetups. You’re probably familiar with the global Meetup community. This is the master list of global blockchain meetups, where you can find and meet people who share your interests in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

Social Media Communities

If social media are your guides into the blockchain realm, start with these blog posts, Twitter feeds, and online magazines to keep you informed and connected:

• Austin Blockchain Collective – advocates for and showcases blockchain and crypto companies, projects, and innovation.
• Bitcoin News – weekly headlines and events gathered from Blockchain Blog.
• Blockchain Magazine – online magazine that gathers the latest blockchain education, research, and news.
• ICO COGUIDE Blog – weekly news, interviews and educational product reviews about ICOs.
• International Legal Technology Association Blog – This blog notifies the blockchain community about live events, volunteer opportunities, and blockchain-related events served up weekly.
• Jamie Moy’s Forbes Blog – well-known business writer focuses on women in blockchain, their work, and innovations.
• SHE256 Blog – women’s group whose mission is to empower and motivate women to enter the blockchain space before its full disruptive force takes effect.
• The Very Blog – created by VeryPossible, a blockchain, IoT, and machine learning development house, the blog reviews the latest topics and blockchain technology.

Get Involved

Advocate for Blockchain Technology

It’s easy to forget that blockchain technology and its cryptocurrency applications are less than 10 years old. There’s a lot of educating, advocating, and explaining to do before cryptocurrency and blockchain tech can maximize their effects on finance and other sectors of our modern economy.

Organizing up-and-coming students and professionals already working in the field is one way to make sure that information about blockchain tech is accurate, noticed, and understood. Members of these groups are already engaged in the advocacy process:

• American Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association was created to represent blockchain and cryptocurrency advocates
• Blockchain Advocacy Coalition focuses on regulatory topics and pending legislation that’s related to blockchain technology.
• Blockchain Advocacy Group is an interest group whose members promote the adoption of blockchain technology in Wyoming.
• Blockchain Alliance was founded by the Chamber of Digital Commerce, a national organization.
• Blockchain Commission for Sustainable Development was developed by the UN. Its mission: use blockchain-based technologies to develop local, national, and global solutions to social and financial problems.
• Blockchain for Social Impact Coalition incubates, develops, and implements confederated blockchain products and solutions that can address social and environmental challenges to the UN’s sustainable development Goals.
• CoinCenter is the leading non-profit focused on the policy issues facing cryptocurrencies.
• Digital Currency & Ledger Defense Coalition is a group of lawyers and academics who focus on the legal issues surrounding digital currency and distributed ledger technology.
• Dynamic Coalition on Blockchain Technologies focuses on the development and deployment of blockchain-based applications and the governance policies that enable innovation.
• Global Blockchain Business Council is the leading blockchain technology trade association. It brings together innovative organizations and founding thought-leaders from over 40 countries
• The Collective Future has a mission to promote knowledge sharing and diversity in the early-stage sectors of cryptocurrency and to nurture the next generation of cryptocurrency-based companies and leaders.
• Women in Blockchain Foundation is a non-profit devoted to women working in, supporting, or taking part in the development of the crypto economy.

Join the members of these groups. Promote the policies and innovations that will help blockchain tech, cryptocurrency business–and women’s participation in it—grow.

Making More Progress—Today

Although women throughout the world are excited by the potential of blockchain-based tech and business, we risk losing the chance to innovate and move new business and technology ideas forward.

Unless, of course, we continue to rise up and push to make our mark in the global blockchain business and technology.