Recent research indicates that men are twice as likely as women to invest in crypto, but this is changing.
Investing in cryptocurrencies is twice as popular among males as it is among women, according to a recent CNBC and Acorn Next Generation Investor poll. The poll was carried out in collaboration with Momentive, a company that was formerly known as Survey Monkey.
In particular, the survey discovered that 16 percent of male respondents had made cryptocurrency investments, compared to only 7 percent of their female counterparts.
The research also reveals that the gender disparity in cryptocurrency investments outweighs the disparity apparent in exchange-traded funds, individual equities, mutual funds, real estate, and bonds, among other asset classes.
When you consider the fact that cryptocurrencies are, by design and according to its supporters, a means of democratizing finance around the world, these findings may call into question one of the apparently key charms of digital assets.
Is crypto a male-dominated industry?
Hailey Lennon, a corporate attorney at Anderson Kill, told Decrypt that a lack of female representation in crypto is a problem because “diversity of perspectives and participation are required for a financial revolution to take place.”
“With women accounting for half of the world’s population, greater participation among women is required if there is to be widespread adoption,” Lennon continued.
In addition, Lennon evaluated the notion that women are “on the whole, more conservative with their financial affairs.” Given the fact that bitcoin is a new asset class and that its prices are erratic, she believes it is “more risky and less predictable.”
Towards the end, Lennon expressed confidence that the number of people entering this field will continue to grow in the coming years, and he hoped to assist a major proportion of those individuals to be women.
According to the 2021 State of UK Crypto study published by cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, this disparity is already beginning to shrink.
As Stephanie Ramezan, director of business development at Gemini Europe, explained to Decrypt, “Gemini’s 2021 State of UK Crypto report revealed that 41.6 percent of previous or current crypto investors are women, and this number continues to grow.”
Ramezan’s sentiments were echoed by Heather Delaney, the founder of Gallium Ventures, who founded the company. She told Decrypt that women are becoming confident about investing since they are more likely than males to have considerable quantities of their assets in cash and to consider diversifying the way they invest this wealth.
According to her, “Crypto companies must recognize that the broader consumer audience requires education and crypto 101 in order to build confidence in the space.”
Despite the fact that Momentive’s poll results have struck a chord with some, others contend that the industry’s infancy, along with privacy activism, renders the validity of these findings questionable.
As Jason Deane, Bitcoin analyst at Quantum Economics, explained to Decrypt, “Crypto is an extremely young asset with a comparatively small investor base—it will take time for these figures to have real meaning, and, ultimately, we would expect to see the spread be more reflective of the population as a whole.”
Deane went on to say that he feels Bitcoin is the “most inclusive asset the human race has ever witnessed.”
Founder and CEO of Yap Global and cryptocurrency investor Samantha Yap explained that the nature of bitcoin investing makes it difficult to collect accurate statistics.
As Yap said to Decrypt, “it is much more difficult to tell in the cryptocurrency or decentralized finance world because there are a large number of anonymous investors—we don’t know what percentage of them are female or male.”
Yap, on the other hand, stated that she was not surprised by the results of the survey in question.
Isn’t this also relevant to the larger topic regarding gender pay discrepancies and economic disparity between men and women?” I wonder. Yap went on to say that for individuals who are unfamiliar with cryptocurrency, it might be a “disappointing or intimidating asset class to invest in,” he stated.
