Web 3 is tinged with pink: a first step on gender equality?

In March, several initiatives were held on web3 to celebrate the achievements of women in the industry in honor of Women's History Month. Since 1987, this annual occasion has highlighted the significant contributions women have made to society.

Diversity drives the growth of Web3. Monica Talán, founder and collaborator of the Spanish-language web3 platform CryptoConexión, told Cryptonews that raising awareness of women's roles in web3 goes beyond achieving gender balance. Talán believes that highlighting women's work in the web3 sector will expand the talent pool, generating new perspectives and approaches to cryptocurrency development. "This will create more equitable economic opportunities, build inclusive communities, and ensure that the future of technology reflects and meets the needs of everyone."

A necessary change of course, as 2023 statistics suggest that women hold only about 26% of all jobs in the cryptocurrency sector. Additionally, women occupy only about 6% of leadership roles compared to 94% of men who hold CEO positions. According to Talán, women make up 47% of CryptoConexión's audience. Shifting the perspective from "believing that women should adapt to web3" to "understanding that web3 must evolve to embrace women" has helped build the platform's unique trait.

Talán explained that CryptoConexión has highlighted the stories of over 60 Latin American women contributing to the development of the web3 sector, starting from early March, the month dedicated to celebrating women's history. "This list also included newcomers," Talán explained. "The intention is to highlight the importance of female presence, inspiring more South Americans to join web3 and create a more inclusive and diverse digital future."

Sandy Carter, COO of the web3 domain platform Unstoppable Domains, told Cryptonews that women in the crypto sector have indeed contributed to innovation in unique ways. Unstoppable hosted a space on the X platform, formerly Twitter, dedicated to the "power of tokenization and women" on March 8th, International Women's Day. "We had guests like Dr. Anino Emuwa, founder of 100 Women Davos, and The Africa Women CEO Network," she said. "We also hosted the director of Boss Beauties who worked on the Mattel Barbie and Boss Beauty NFT project."

Celebrating Women in the Metaverse. Highlighting the value of women can encourage female participation in web3. Today, the Metaverse platform has become a reference point for promoting events revolving around the role of women in their development.

Cryptonews also interviewed Kim Currier, marketing manager of the Decentraland Foundation. She said that from March 26th to 29th, Decentraland will host an exhibition dedicated to female artists during the second "Art Week" and "MESHfair" events, which take place annually. "MESHfair is a unique opportunity for artists to explore their creativity in a virtual environment," she explained. Currier added that female artists will represent 16 of the 32 international artists selected to showcase new works during MESHfair.

The artist and web3 producer Bay Backner founded MESHfair. Backner told Cryptonews that MESHfair serves as a bridge to connect artists working with 3D files for virtual reality (VR) with galleries and collectors. "Despite widespread interest in virtual reality, works in this format are still underrepresented both in traditional art fairs and in major NFT collections."

Backner added that 13.7% of living artists represented by galleries in Europe and North America are women. "Of the 100 most expensive works ever sold, none were made by a woman," she added. "So there is still a long way to go towards gender equality in real-life art."

Unfortunately, according to Backner, a similar gender gap is emerging in the virtual reality sector. Female-led startups in the Metaverse are notably absent. According to McKinsey, only 10% of virtual world or Metaverse companies that received funding during the cryptocurrency boom from 2017 to 2022 were led by women. To avoid repeating mistakes seen elsewhere, it will be necessary to promote and give visibility to the work of female entrepreneurs and creatives in the field of virtual reality.

According to Backner, the MESHfair event plays a key role in this regard. "It supports the small but growing community of creators in the immersive web3 technology field. Every artist in this space right now is making history. They are defining a new artistic medium. So it is very important that the work of female artists is identifiable and documented in this context."

An artist named "JaneDAO" told Cryptonews that showcasing her work during MESHfair and Women's History Month offers a platform capable of inspiring others through the sharing of their creations.