cryptoglobe.com
Critics are warning that female followers of popular internet figures and celebrities could be at risk of getting caught in the “crypto hustle.”
According to a report by The Washington Post, fans of popular celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Mila Kunis are at risk of getting side-swiped by the market reality of investing in digital currencies. The report cites a Zoom call in January, during which both women encouraged more than 5,000 women in attendance to get involved in the largely male-dominated industry of crypto.
Paltrow said at the time,
We have watched a lot of these bros get together and earn a lot of money. We deserve to be in this space just as much.
Kunis has likewise been involved in the digital asset space, launching a cartoon series with her husband, Ashton Kutcher, that uses NFT digital art. Kunis lamented that women have been taught to be “risk-averse” and said she was open to taking risks in order to “see what happens.”
The Washington Post report cites a CNBC poll in 2021 that found nearly twice as many men invest in cryptoassets as women. Another poll by Quinnipiac University in March found that only 43 percent of women had heard of NFTs, compared to 61 percent of men.
Adrienne Young, a social media strategist who helps women of color get involved in crypto, said female entrepreneurs are starting to replace the same power structures that have marginalized women from the crypto industry.
She told The Washington Post,
These projects are very clearly centering mostly White women or mostly women who already come from a lot of privilege. It felt like buzzwords for people to eat up so they felt good about supporting a women-led project.
yes, we should be onboarding more women into this space, but not at the expense of other womens’ work while those with more access and resources move to profit off of the copied work.
— paddingtonbear.eth (🧸,🧸) (@adriyoung) February 3, 2022
this isn’t what web3 should be about
Other critics warn that efforts to get women involved in cryptoasset investing are overemphasizing the financial upside, while glossing over the risk. Faith Love, an artist and community manager at MetaMask, said the pandering towards women in crypto was serving as “bait” to generate money and economic power for the project creators.
Disclaimer
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