Although the global society is shifting towards equality and tolerance, gender gaps are still a part of our everyday life.
In 2021, CNBC published an article stating “cryptocurrency gap has a big gender problem”, as twice as many men and women invest in digital assets. Moreover, the crypto gender gap is bigger compared to traditional investment tools, such as stocks or real estate.
Twice as many men as women invest in cryptocurrency, according to CNBC and Acorn’s Invest in You: Next Gen Investor survey, conducted in partnership with Momentive.
The crypto gender gap exceeds the existing gap within traditional investments including stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and real estate.
Cryptocurrencies including bitcoin, Ethereum, and dogecoin have been promoted as a way to democratize a traditionally walled-off finance field and increase investor diversity.
Today, we want to take a closer look at the role of women in crypto investing and trading. Let’s discover:
- How many women invest in crypto?
- What are their main goals?
- Why is holding the primary-used strategy among females?
- Which blockers prevent women from crypto investing?
Women in Crypto: Numbers
According to the most recent study by GOBankingRates, only 15% of women invest in crypto, compared to 38% of men. Consequently, almost half as many females are into crypto as men, and this gap is consistent across the annual results of 2021 as well.
| Year | Female Crypto Investors | Male Crypto Investors |
| 2021 | 15% | 38% |
| 2022 | 7% | 16% |
BlockFi, a global crypto financial services company, also released a crypto market overview, focusing on women’s analysis in crypto investing. According to a survey in the United States, 10% of females choose digital assets as their first investment. The respondents consisted of:
- Millennials — 17%
- Generation Z or post-millennials — 7%
Women Buy and HODL Despite Crypto Winter
The survey also revealed that female investors tend to remain bullish despite the market shedding ⅔ of its cap. Over one in five, or 22% of the respondents, revealed the intention to buy digital assets in the next year. In addition, 20% of Gen Z women find Bitcoin the “best long-term investment”.
BlockFi also reported that 69% of female crypto owners state they hold crypto and will continue to do so. Check and mate to those who believe that women are “way too emotional” for such high-stress environments — females remain collected hodlers despite a drastic rate decrease in the 12 months.
What Pushes Women to Invest?
Generally speaking, the reasons for investing are unified for both women and men and usually involve the desire to increase wealth and try a new activity. However, in May 2021, a BDC consulting group conducted research targeting female investors specifically.
According to the results, besides money, women are motivated by the desire to keep pace with the technologies, be financially educated and independent, and start their own crypto businesses.
As for the circumstances that push females to explore crypto, they include:
- being inspired by friends and colleagues — 36%
- following a global crypto trend — 17%
- conducting personal market research — 15%
What Prevents Women from Investing?
When it comes to blockers that stop women from getting into crypto, they are also similar to those that men experience.
Lack of appetite and skills for crypto
Most people don’t involve themselves with digital assets as they tend to seem quite complex even despite the effortless user experience most modern platforms offer. As much as we would like crypto to be a universally accepted tool, digital assets are still a rarity to the majority of the global population.
Crypto Prices Roller-Coasters
Another obstacle is volatility. We all know that those price ups and downs can be pretty rough, making it too risky for a good part of the investors. Despite the bear cycles, investors even tend to take their money out of highly volatile markets.
Not Keen on Unregulated Industries
Female investors are not that enthusiastic about unregulated markets, while cryptocurrencies are still in the grey legal area in many countries. This opens investors to additional fraud and scam risks, which became even more apparent after Terra’s collapse and its aftermath.
Crypto Is Still a Man’s Party
The aforementioned BDC research conducted, that many females refrain from crypto as community chats and members can be unpleasant and lenient towards females. In addition, crypto events are often made “by men for men”, with the majority of the audience and speakers being male.
Female Investors Are Here to Stay
Despite all the blockers and current financial instability across the globe, women are becoming a more active part of the investing community. We believe that it is a great trend that each crypto industry member should support and promote. Although there are some pretty big female names in the industry, namely Charlene Fadirepo, a Bitcoin advocate who worked for Citibank and HSBC, or Kiana Danial, who founded Invest Diva to educate women, we can and should see more women in finance.