While women have historically been excluded from conversations around finance, the crypto space features many impressive female contributors. Now don’t get me wrong, crypto is still very much a male dominated industry, but it is increasingly incorporating more women as it grows. Based on Canada’s latest survey looking into Bitcoin ownership, it was found that more than 1 million Canadian women owned at least one type of digital currency. This number is likely to grow as 60% of American women surveyed on the topic intended to buy crypto in the coming months. The rise of blockchain and digital assets is a great opportunity for women to generate wealth either by investment, trading, or even making NFTs to monetize their work. Some main barriers standing in the way of more women getting into crypto are a lack of education and representation. So, read along to see how these six Canadian women are making their mark on the future of crypto.
Let’s kick things off with the first ever recipient of the United Nations Frontier Woman 300 Award. This entrepreneur based in North Bay, Ontario is recognized for her innovative work in blockchain, digital marketing, gender equality, and sustainability. She is co-founder of MVM Inc., a digital marketing agency that has collaborated with big industry names including Tesla and the Toronto Film Festival. More recently, she co-founded Adbank, a revolutionary advertising platform that uses blockchain technology for transparency on payments. Kelsey also does work with the United Nations to advance their Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) using cryptocurrency. She has also worked with them to include more women in the world of finance with crypto and blockchain related projects.
Kelsey is a great example of the impact women can make with knowledge of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. She actively encourages women to become more educated on these topics as a Crypto Ambassador for Women’s Coin, a coin for women to support education in empowerment. With all these meaningful contributions to the crypto space and its inclusion of women, it’s no doubt that CoinTelegraph once called her the “Leading Female in Crypto.”
With over 11 thousand Instagram followers and features in several news articles across the country, Lana Denina is an example of how women can find success by monetizing their work as NFTs. This Montreal-based artist has made over $500,000 selling her artwork in the form of NFTs on Opensea. Her Mono Lana project, which is now completely sold out, is an Ethereum based NFT project featuring portraits of women of various cultural backgrounds.
A portion of the profits from her work has gone towards a charity that supports African artists, as well as various women’s shelters around Canada. She hopes that her work and her success will inspire more women and POC to follow in her footsteps and take advantage of opportunities in the tech space.
Awarded the title of Certified Bitcoin Professional by the Cryptocurrency Certification Consortium, Hilary Carter is a leader in the blockchain space. Hilary is VP of Research for The Linux Foundation, a non-profit technology consortium that supports tech companies and developers with their projects. She was also the Managing Director and Director of Research at the Blockchain Research Institute, a global think tank that shares knowledge surrounding the development and use of blockchain technology. In these roles, Hilary has helped business professionals understand and leverage blockchain technology to advance their projects and make positive changes in their businesses.
Hilary has worked on independent projects in this space, including a research project looking at decentralized web applications. She has also made contributions in assisting the United Nations with their Sustainable Development Goals by exploring how blockchain can be used for purposes of sustainability. Needless to say, Hilary’s work has revealed the countless applications of blockchain technology and the impact it can make on our lives. And she does it right here in the GTA!
Working out of Toronto, Ly Nguyen is making an impact on the use of blockchain in Canada’s financial institutions. With over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, Ly is an advocate for the use of blockchain technology in the Canadian economy, as well as its normalization in other sectors. She is dedicated to improving education and awareness of blockchain so that companies can integrate this technology to become more competitive in their industries.
Ly is a thought leader in the banking industry, breaking away from tradition and encouraging those in her field to strive for growth. Her work is improving Canada’s financial and economic development by teaching others the positive changes that blockchain can bring.
@ElenaCryptoChic & @Natalia_Ameline
Co-founders of CryptoChicks, an international education platform for women of all levels to learn about blockchain, Elena and Natalia have also made important contributions to the advancement of women in crypto.
Additionally, Elena serves as CEO of Metis, an Ethereum Layer 2 Rollup Platform. This company allows users with different levels of technical knowledge to create projects on the Ethereum blockchain. In fact, this entrepreneur is very well known for her work in blockchain across Canada and has even been awarded Canada’s Top Woman in Blockchain. Elena has an extensive background in the field of software development and has even worked on software solutions for government and law enforcement related projects.
Natalia is the mother to Ethereum’s creator Vitalik Buterin. Her educational background is in business and computer science, and she has many years of experience working in finance. Starting out of Toronto, her and Elena have helped educate women in many countries about crypto and how to incorporate it into their businesses and personal projects.
The crypto space is constantly growing and making an impact in many fields including finance, business, and technology. With all the different applications for this technology, women are essential in facilitating its continued integration.
