Study reveals Australian women who own crypto has doubled in the past year

According to a new poll shared with TBEN, the number of Australian women who hold cryptocurrency has doubled in the last year.

The number of women who are presently or have invested in cryptocurrency climbed from 10.3 percent in 2020 to 20% in 2021, according to the Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index (IRCI) of 2,000 Australians. According to the report, the ratio of female Bitcoin owners fell from 8.3 percent to 14.8 percent.

Independent Reserve is a cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in Australia that was launched in 2013 and now has over 200,000 members. More women have entered the crypto market this year, according to Karen Cohen, vice chairman of the board of Blockchain Australia, as the asset class continues to become a mainstream investment. In an interview with TBEN, she stated:

“I think that it tells you that investing in crypto is less risky and is just one of many different ways you can invest. I think it’s sort of giving the signal that if a bank thinks it's okay, then you know it's a safer place to invest.”

Cohen referenced the CBA's edition of crypto trading options to its app in early November as an example. “Over time, as bitcoin investments become more accepted and widespread, the perceived risk also decreases,” said Adrian Przelozny, co-founder of Independent Reserve.

“I think you'll see more and more women enter the market when that happens,” he continued. Grayscale research from 2019 found that women are more risk-averse investors than males, which is commonly blamed for the gender difference between female and male crypto investors.

Women were also more willing to listen to family and friends regarding cryptocurrency, according to the ICRI. In comparison to 42.2 percent of males polled, 56.7 percent of women indicated they would enter the crypto market based on advice from family and friends.

“A lot of women are getting referrals from friends and family,” Cohen said, “so they're feeling a little safer to become engaged.” In contrast, 45.9% of male respondents stated they would consider entering the crypto market as a result of media attention, compared to 41.8 percent of women.

Bridging the gender gap

Because it's so interwoven with gendered preconceptions and the way women are brought up to comprehend risk and investing, Cohen anticipates total gender parity among crypto investors to remain “a while away” in the future. Przelozny concurred, stating that predicting when the investment gap would close is impossible. “I don't know when it gets 50/50,” he remarked. But I believe it is heading in the right path.”

Users should anticipate “the scene to fundamentally alter again” when the Metaverse and blockchain games continue to dominate the crypto industry, according to Cohen.

“Is gaming more of a boy's club than cryptocurrency?” she wondered, before concluding that “nobody really knows.”

Cohen pushed decision-makers in the crypto business to include women in events and panel discussions in last year's IRCI report, stating, “We are what we see.” PureProfile conducts an annual cross-sectional study of over 2,000 Australians called the IRCI. The sample, according to Independent Reserve, was representative of the country's gender, age, and geographic dispersion.