Let me confirm something that should not need to be debated: being a woman in crypto is a huge disadvantage.
Despite being on the bleeding edge of technology and espousing libertarian, progressive values, the crypto industry is uniquely behind in recognizing the value of female talent. The Web3 Finance Compensation Report recently revealed that “women in Web3 finance earn 46% less than men on average, which is significantly higher than in Web2 finance where the pay gap is 39% in the United States and 28% in the United Kingdom.” In 2024, over 90% of VC funding in blockchain went to male-led projects. And Cointelegraph reported that in 2023, women held 26% of jobs in crypto and only 6% of leadership positions. Men held 96% of CEO jobs.
To date, I am one of only a handful of female founder/CEOs of a Layer 1 protocol.
Earlier this year, Pantera put out a report that seemed to suggest women had outpaced men in crypto. Specifically, it found women outearn men by a whopping 14.6%. However, the report also indicated that the median experience level for women in crypto is 5.3 years, versus 4.5 years for men, who occupy a larger proportion of entry-level positions in the industry.
Far from painting an inconsistent picture, the two studies highlight something McKinsey found in their 2023 report on women in the workforce: women aren’t being held back by lack of C-Suite traction; they suffer from the “broken rung.” This refers to the fact that women don’t advance beyond the entry stages to mid-level positions at the same pace as men, hindering their chances of reaching the top.
As the report noted, “For every 100 men promoted from entry-level to manager, 87 women were promoted. And this gap is trending the wrong way for women of color: this year, 73 women of color were promoted to manager for every 100 men, down from 82 women of color last year. As a result of this ‘broken rung,’ women fall behind and can’t catch up.” Because men outnumber women to begin with, this problem compounds year-on-year.
Those abstract stats don’t quite paint the picture of the day-to-day lived experience: crypto exists in a misogynistic cesspool where incel culture thrives.
The relentless attacks on Caroline Ellison’s appearance during the FTX collapse and high-profile figures promoting stereotypes about women’s mental health only scratch the surface of this pervasive issue. When Saga was nearing its launch earlier this year, several men sent me DMs and tweets telling me to get out because women ruin this space. The crypto community’s reaction to these incidents often veers into territory that goes beyond simple misogyny, reflecting deeper issues of resentment and hostility towards women.
The ironclad bro mentality means that women are not only subject to sexist content across most interactions in the cryptosphere, they are also discredited as capable people outside of their usefulness to men.
Why Conventional DEI Programs Won’t Work
All these problems existed to varying degrees in more mature industries and wider society at earlier stages, so we can simply apply the same solutions, right?
No. Crypto is still the Wild West, operating far outside of the mainstream. It does not answer to social norms, and the progress society has made on women in the workplace has not appeared here. So too, the typical initiatives companies put in place—promote more women, have actual quotas for hiring women, establish mentorship programs for women, sponsor female empowerment initiatives, offer redress for illegal hiring practices—are just not protections women can rely on here. They won’t be implemented. The minute any project tries, it will lead to accusations that a woman received something not because she was deserving, but because she’s a woman.
Ladies, it’s up to you. You will not have to struggle completely alone—I promise you. However, to steel yourself for the almost daily battle, you should accept now that you must first and foremost fight for yourself.
What Women Can Do
What can you do to assert your personhood in the face of such a powerful industry culture? I wanted to share with you some of the things that have helped me:
- Know your power. By this, I mean your unique talents, capabilities, and the agency you have to make an impact in this industry. Wield it to the best of your ability. Some of us like to lie in wait for the right opportunity to strike. Some go in guns blazing at the very first opportunity. The particular style doesn’t matter nearly as much as always being aware of your power — don’t get scared and hide from it. Don’t inflate it. Just know it and be eminently comfortable with it.
- Turn your outsider status into an advantage. Most obstacles won’t magically disappear in the near term, so you must find a way to beat your path forward. Not accepted? Be grateful for the freedom to think independently. Not invited? Throw your own event. Excluded from the conversation? Let the men finish their monologues and then hit them with a perspective everyone else missed. Again, know your power.
- Find your allies. There are wonderful men in crypto who won’t simply be kind—they will advocate for you and have your back. I ought to know: almost the entire Saga team, including my three co-founders, are men. Most of our investors and advisors are also men, some of whom have become dear friends I chat with daily. No one’s career happens alone, and you will need a broad coalition to fight alongside you.
- Recognize and reject toxicity. Do not let off-base comments exhaust you emotionally. Notice the behavior because you don’t want to lose perceptiveness, but find a way to protect yourself from feeling angry or hurt.
- Support other women. Biological evolution encourages women to feel jealous and competitive with one another because of perceived scarcity of resources and male attention. We live in a different world now. Senior women have to lead the way here and avoid gatekeeping.
- Don’t settle for the supporting role. Far too many people still believe that a woman cannot lead a project in crypto. They can serve as highly effective operators, but to be the face, voice, heart and soul of a project—only a man can do it. Let me demystify this: if you have a vision and can move a community to execute on it, you have what it takes to be a founder/CEO. Know your power.
What the Crypto Industry Can and Should Do
None of the above is easy, and the onus should not be completely on a woman to fight for herself. The industry does have a responsibility to change. Here’s what we all can do:
- Track performance. As long as crypto remains a speculation game largely controlled by men with little to no accountability for actual results, talent and performance will not nearly matter as much as belonging. Particularly in this crypto cycle, we’re already starting to see that money is not so easy anymore, and projects need to deliver for long-term growth. Projects should start tracking and rewarding performance accordingly, and a meritocracy can more easily develop.
- Recruit fresh talent. The entry-level is where we really start to see change. Once again, the broken rung is the culprit for lack of female advancement, not thinness in senior leadership. Just as importantly, we need new blood and fresh ideas in crypto. Continuing to recirculate talent between crypto projects is unhealthy and boring.
- Protect your team. Anyone on your team, man or woman, comes first. An attack on one of you is an attack on all and needs to be addressed as such. For as long as you work in this space, this is the tribe that matters.
- Build products for women. Here I take a cue from the broader market for consumer goods, including Saga’s core focus of gaming, another heavily male-dominated industry. Women become more highly valued and rise to leadership positions in these markets because we have become a stronger customer base with the lion’s share of spending power. So far, crypto has not tapped into that market with a runaway hit among a female demographic.
For women in crypto, you chose a hard but incredibly consequential and rewarding path. If you feel overwhelmed, take comfort in the fact that time is ultimately on our side. Mass adoption means much of the progress women have made in the mainstream will make its way here. And so, ladies, focus on building your projects and bringing on users. In my other life as a political advisor, it’s the equivalent of finding new voters. When no one’s looking, recruit your army.
Rebecca Liao is the founder and CEO of Saga, the Layer 1 blockchain built for launching Layer 1s. A Harvard-educated lawyer, Liao transitioned from international corporate law at Skadden Arps to tech, co-founding Skuchain, a blockchain platform for global trade, and serving as Director of Business Development and Head of Asia for Globality, an AI-powered B2B services marketplace. Her career encompasses technology, Web3, and politics, including advisory roles on tech and foreign policy for both Joe Biden’s and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns.
