Author: Daniel Ramirez-Escudero, CoinTelegraph; Compiled by: Baishui, Golden Finance
The cryptocurrency market is firmly in a bull cycle, driven by growing institutional adoption and bullish sentiment in the United States. Bitcoin was once seen as a fringe asset, but is now being embraced by major financial institutions.
Women have played a central role in this transformation, leading startups, formulating policies, creating educational content, writing research reports, and more, helping to drive mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency.
Given its roots in the traditionally male-dominated fields of tech and finance, cryptocurrency has long been a male-dominated industry. However, the novel industry represents a fresh and innovative evolution of these industries. Cryptocurrency is now attracting more women, providing a unique opportunity to address the gender imbalance in tech and finance.
Crypto has long been criticized for its "bro" culture, but as the industry matures, it has become more balanced, with women increasingly taking the lead and even surpassing men in some areas.
A July 29 report from cryptocurrency hedge fund Pantera Capital showed that women in the industry have begun to earn more than men, an apparent exception to trends in other industries.
The report noted: "The relatively fair salaries in the cryptocurrency space suggest that gender equality is moving in a greater direction, marking a progressive trend in this fairly new field."
In the cryptocurrency space, women earn more than men. Source: Pantera
The crypto industry’s gender wage gap may have reversed, but women remain underrepresented in senior roles, highlighting the industry’s persistent glass ceiling.
The crypto industry’s gender wage gap has reversed. Source: Pantera
Nevertheless, women have seized the opportunity to jump into the cryptocurrency gold rush, and their efforts have borne fruit, with notable contributions across disciplines and success in the crypto industry.
Cynthia Lummis, a U.S. Senator from Wyoming, has become a key figure in the crypto industry, largely due to her advocacy for clear, balanced crypto regulations.
Lummis invested in Bitcoin in 2013. Her deep understanding of digital assets and background as Wyoming’s state treasurer make her a leading voice for innovation and regulatory clarity in the U.S. Senate.
Lummis has been a strong critic of the current anti-cryptocurrency regulatory approach, particularly the SEC’s enforcement-driven stance. This has helped her gain the trust of many in the crypto community.
Her advocacy includes pushing for Bitcoin and Ethereum to be classified as commodities, governed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) rather than the SEC.
On July 27, 2024, she introduced the Bitcoin Act of 2024 at the Bitcoin Nashville Conference. The bill would require the U.S. government to establish a strategic reserve of Bitcoin, purchasing about 5% of the total supply of 21 million Bitcoins and holding them for at least 20 years. She wants the U.S. to use Bitcoin as a reserve asset to hedge against currency depreciation. Lummis said:
"We have money now, but we will no longer hold it in dollars and assets designed to depreciate at least 2% per year. We will hold it as an asset that will appreciate."
After the 2024 federal elections, when Republicans took control of both the House and Senate, she doubled down on her promise to pass the bill.
Source: Senator Cynthia Lummis
Lummis even went a step further and suggested that the U.S. could convert its gold reserves into cryptocurrency rather than waiting to buy Bitcoin.
The Bitcoin Act is considered by many to be one of the most bullish factors in the current Bitcoin cycle and remains a source of excitement for the crypto community.
Blockstream co-founder and CEO, Hashcash inventor Adam Back, predicts that if implemented, Bitcoin could be valued at over $1 million.
Source: Adam Back
Basel Ismail, CEO of investment analysis platform Blockcircle, noted that if the bill is passed in the United States, it will "send a signal to most G20 countries" to follow suit, triggering a domino effect.
Surinamese presidential candidate Maya Parbhoe has an ambitious vision: to create a Bitcoin nation that is deeply integrated with cryptocurrency.
Her plans for Suriname go beyond making Bitcoin legal tender – she wants to dissolve the central bank, cut taxes, privatize public services, issue a national Bitcoin bond, and pursue broad deregulation.
In 2023, she played a crucial role in El Salvador’s Bitcoin transition, working with Samson Mow, CEO of Bitcoin accelerator Jan3. She almost achieved her goal of making Bitcoin legal tender in Suriname, but she said corruption undermined her efforts, which prompted her to seek change through politics.
In October 2024, she announced her candidacy for the May 2025 elections, promising to have Suriname adopt the Bitcoin standard within a year if she wins.
From left: Surinamese President Chan Santoki, Maya Parbhoe and Ben Van Hool.
While many politicians have only recently embraced cryptocurrencies, Parbhoe has been involved in Bitcoin for the past decade and firmly believes in Satoshi Nakamoto's values.
In 2014, her curiosity led her to Bitcoin and a lifelong career, as she shares:
"I completely fell down the rabbit hole and decided to dedicate the rest of my life to it. If there's one reason to die on this hill, it's Bitcoin."
Parbhoe's vision and efforts to root out corruption are supported by many in the Bitcoin community. However, only time will tell if the momentum she is building will be enough to take power and reshape the country's future.
The President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, has made several promises that, if fulfilled, could make the country overwhelmingly in favor of cryptocurrencies. However, U.S. regulators and politicians have not always been so friendly to cryptocurrencies.
Perianne Boring, founder and CEO of blockchain advocacy group the Digital Chamber, has long been a tireless advocate for crypto-friendly policies on the front lines.
The crypto voter bloc has made its voice heard, and we now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make the United States the crypto capital of the world.
— Perianne (@PerianneDC) November 13, 2024
In 2018, Forbes named Boring one of the “Top 50 Women in American Tech,” representing her strong influence in the field in the United States.
Boring is an early adopter who learned about Bitcoin in 2011 while working on Capitol Hill. She previously worked as an economic analyst for a member of the House Financial Services Committee, and her political experience and knowledge of Bitcoin led her to her current position.
She is a staunch defender of clear crypto policy and has criticized the SEC for what many in the crypto industry consider to be “enforcement regulation.” She believes that the CFTC should regulate cryptocurrencies because “cryptocurrencies are commodities.”
Her activism may have put her on the shortlist of candidates for CFTC Chair, according to Fox Business, who has the potential to craft crypto-friendly regulations if she is nominated and confirmed.
She could become a key figure in the crypto regulatory space, especially if the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) is enacted. FIT21 would clarify the roles of the CFTC and SEC, determining that most digital assets that fail the SEC’s securities “Howey Test” would fall under the CFTC’s jurisdiction, particularly in spot markets.
Natalie Brunell is a well-known figure in the cryptocurrency space, best known for her role as a Bitcoin advocate and educator.
Brunell hosts Coin Stories, a very popular Bitcoin-centric podcast where she interviews key figures in the Bitcoin and economics space. Her work helps connect complex financial concepts with personal stories, making Bitcoin accessible to a wide audience.
Brunell began her career in traditional media, where she worked as an investigative reporter and TV journalist for over a decade. She turned to Bitcoin after witnessing her family's financial struggles during the 2008 financial crisis, which led her to question systemic issues with the traditional financial system.
Since then, her show has featured cryptocurrency-related guests such as Michael Saylor, Peter Schiff, PlanB, Anthony Pompliano, Willy Woo, Raoul Pal, Dan Held, Peter McCormack, and Jimmy Song, among others.
Her journey from traditional media to full-time Bitcoin advocate highlights her commitment to reshaping the public's understanding of money and technology.
Investor and equity analyst Lyn Alden has become a well-known name in the field of macroeconomic analysis and investment strategy. She actively engages with cryptocurrency thought leaders to provide her perspective and understanding of the cryptocurrency market.
Alden excels at making complex analysis simple for the average person. In 2024, she commissioned a research report titled "Bitcoin: A Global Liquidity Barometer," which explored the strong correlation between Bitcoin price movements and global liquidity, specifically the M2 money supply, which measures cash, check deposits, and other money-like assets.
The study showed that Bitcoin moved in line with global liquidity trends about 83% of the time, a higher percentage than other major asset classes such as gold and stocks.
This view highlights Bitcoin's potential to benefit from favorable liquidity conditions while acknowledging its volatility and dependence on broader macroeconomic changes.
One of the most common criticisms of cryptocurrencies is that crypto mining is too destructive to the negative impact on the environment. However, this narrative has begun to shift.
Bitcoin uses proof of work (PoW) as its consensus mechanism, which requires a lot of computing power to generate new blocks on the blockchain. According to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF), as of December 17, Bitcoin consumes about 185 terawatt hours per year, more than Egypt and Poland.
Comparison of Bitcoin energy consumption rankings in various countries. Source: CCAF
Research conducted by Margot Paez, a researcher at the Bitcoin Policy Institute and an environmental sustainability consultant, challenges the view that Bitcoin is harmful to the environment. She argues that, counterintuitively, Bitcoin’s mining flexibility and location-independent nature could accelerate the global transition to renewable energy while helping to balance the energy grid.
She has played an active role in data-backed advocacy campaigns that contribute to a better understanding of Bitcoin mining.
A rise in Bitcoin prices in 2024 is closely tied to the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). BlackRock’s BTC ETF has become its most successful ETF ever launched, flipping its gold ETF with consecutive record capital inflows.
Ophelia Snyder, co-founder and president of 21.co, the sponsor and sub-advisor of ARK Invest’s spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, has been a key figure on the front lines of setting up multiple ETFs.
On November 1, 2018, she launched the world’s first crypto index exchange-traded product in Switzerland through 21Shares, a subsidiary of 21.co.
One of Snyder’s major achievements was the launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. in partnership with Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest. Her efforts played an important role in legitimizing crypto assets for traditional investors by providing simple, secure market access.
One of the core ideals of the crypto industry is community-led decentralization, and no matter your background, cryptocurrency could be the golden ticket for women to get on the tech train.
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