Leadership, Investment, and Development: Women’s Inspiring Contributions to the Crypto Industry

Although there was some doubt at the beginning, the blockchain industry has expanded rapidly and is presently a market worth billions of dollars. The industry’s success is owed to the dedication of those who have faith in the potential of cryptocurrencies and are striving to achieve widespread acceptance.

Among these enthusiasts are many women. Incrypted’s editorial team shares inspiring stories of female CEOs, developers, and investors who have a significant impact on shaping the cryptocurrency industry.

Yi He, Co-founder of Binance

People call her «The Crypto Queen», «The Behind-the-Throne Boss», and the most powerful woman in the industry. Changpeng Zhao was the public face of one of the biggest crypto exchanges for many years, while the co-founder of Binance was not as well-known to the public. But in many ways, it was she who made the platform a leading player in the market.

Yi He began her career in the cryptocurrency industry in 2014. Before joining Binance, she co-founded the OKCoin exchange. She met Changpeng Zhao at a conference and first hired him as the CTO of the platform.

Now, in addition to being a Co-founder of Binance, she handles marketing and business strategy for the ecosystem. She also manages Binance Labs and leads the «secret» team that selects tokens for listing on the exchange, as reported by WSJ.

Eowyn Chen, CEO of Trust Wallet

Eowyn Chen is the Head of Trust Wallet, a non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet. She holds a degree from Harvard and has studied technology at Tufts University.

When Chen joined Binance in 2019, she became the Chief Marketing and Development Officer and Vice President. Her responsibilities included user engagement, brand development, and community outreach for the ecosystem.

In 2022 she became the CEO of Trust Wallet, one of the most popular wallets. The app experienced significant updates during her leadership, resulting in a growth of the user base to over 80 million. In addition, the team launched a staking service on the Ethereum network and introduced a version of SWIFT to attract more people to Web3.

In a conversation with Incrypted, Eowyn Chen said having role models in the bitcoin industry is important to get more women into the field.

«On the other hand, I am against “minority quota” or diluting standards in order to possess diversity. This will only water down the values and make even women themselves think they get a certain position because of their gender rather than their talent and values. The true showing of presence is obtained by brave trailblazers to set the path and call on followers with their undeniable contributions and irreplaceable values as the hallmark to inspire and encourage», — she says.

Cathie Wood, Head of ARK Invest

Founder and CEO of ARK Invest, a company managing $60 billion in assets and investing in cutting-edge technologies, including cryptocurrencies.

Wood is a prominent figure in the financial industry. She spent 18 years at Jennison Associates and another 12 at AllianceBernstein. At 58, Wood started her own firm after her innovative investment ideas were not well received by management. ARK Invest has been on the road to success for several years, and Wood has been funding its development with her own money.

Kathy Wood focuses on investing in technologies she believes can change the world. In her opinion, cryptocurrencies are such technologies. Wood herself has invested almost a quarter of her fortune in bitcoin.

ARK Invest and 21Shares have been waiting for approval to launch a Bitcoin ETF for some time. After many rejections, the U.S. Securities Commission finally allowed the product to enter the market. As of March 5th, the ARKB fund owns 37,000 BTC.

Arianna Simpson, General Partner of Andreessen Horowitz

In 2013, during travels in Africa, Simpson saw how hyperinflation affected the locals. This experience made her research the problem and discover bitcoin as an alternative to depreciating fiat currency.

After leaving Facebook, she joined BitGo, a crypto platform. After that, Simpson started Autonomous Partners, a venture capital fund focusing on blockchain.

After only one year at Andreessen Horowitz, a major investor in Web3 and blockchain, she got promoted to General Partner.

Elizabeth Stark, Founder of Lightning Labs

Stark, who graduated from Harvard, established and headed Lightning Labs. This company developed a layer-two solution to enable the first cryptocurrency to scale bitcoin and decrease fees on the network. Under her leadership, the company has raised more than $85 million in investment.

In addition to Lightning Labs, Elizabeth Stark is a member of Coin Center, a non-profit organization that lobbies for the crypto industry in the United States.

Mary-Catherine Lader, COO Uniswap

Before creating a top decentralized crypto platform, Lader worked at investment giants Goldman Sachs and BlackRock.

She recognized the potential of blockchain technology early on. According to her, in 2015, during a meeting at BlackRock, Larry Fink asserted that blockchain technology was primarily used for money laundering. Lader disagreed with this position. She prepared a document showing the opportunities BlackRock would miss by dismissing blockchain’s potential. As we now know, Larry Fink has a different perspective on cryptocurrencies.

Some describe Lader’s move from traditional finance to DeFi as a ‘leap of faith’. But she believes that staying put and not moving would have been much riskier.

Gracy Chen, Managing Director of Bitget

Gracy Chen has seven years of experience managing fintech and virtual reality startups. She also has experience in fundraising as an executive and investor.

During her time in charge, Gracy Chen started the Blockchain4Her program to promote inclusivity in the industry.

While only 3% of female project founders are in the crypto industry (7% in the Web3 segment), women occupy many top management positions. According to analysts, Chainalysis has the most women in top management positions (46%). BitOasis comes next, with almost 43%, followed by Coinbase, Elliptic, and Circle, each with over 33%.

When talking about industry development, it’s crucial to recognize the significant contributions of female developers. For example, Amiti Uttarwar, one of the first known female members of the Bitcoin Core team, who received a $150,000 grant, and Blockstream developer Lisa Neigut, who hosts bitcoin conferences and many others.

Trustee Plus CTO Ksenia Zhitomirskaya is among the women in the industry. She was asked to share an important lesson from her years of experience that would be useful for other women to hear:

«To never stop, to study everything a little more than enough to solve problems — then it pays off. Always be more meticulous, persistent, and assiduous than others».

As the market develops, an increasing number of participants are entering it. According to a survey conducted by Binance, which the exchange team shared with Incrypted, Ukrainian women consider ‘investment opportunities’ and ‘financial freedom’ as the main advantages of cryptocurrencies.

While nearly half of the surveyed women are still exploring cryptocurrencies, more than 20% identified themselves as investors, and almost 18% as holders. Yet, only 11.32% of female respondents linked their main activity to digital assets and blockchain.

In certain countries, women are already deeply involved in the use of cryptocurrencies. For instance, in Vietnam, women own 47% of digital assets, which represents 24.4% of the total population.

Experience and Advice: First-hand Accounts

Eowyn Chen suggests that women wanting to join the crypto industry should focus on developing their unique strengths:

«This industry values innovation and diverse perspectives. It is important to express your ideas and be open to learning. Networking and finding mentors can be helpful. Resilience and adaptability are important qualities to have, as challenges can be growth opportunities».

Valentina Ozerina, Product Owner of cryptocurrency exchange service Obmify, emphasizes the importance of adaptability and quick response in the bitcoin industry:

«The field is very dynamic, and people who think long-term and don’t make quick decisions won’t stay here for long. I never thought I would work with a crypto project, but now Obmify is part of my soul. This experience taught me that we don’t know our capabilities until we take risks and try new things».

Ksenia Zhitomirskaya noted that blockchain development requires «110% of your attention». She emphasized the importance of loving what you do and «being genuinely interested in the technology to work in the industry».