A cryptocurrency for every woman

The cryptocurrency market has been growing exponentially in the last few years, due to an increase in the desire for operational efficiency and transparency in financial payment systems, as well as an increase in demand for remittances in developing nations, and data security. The blockchain public ledger technology (which underlies cryptocurrency) has the potential to disrupt a wide variety of transactions, in addition to the traditional payments system. These include stocks, bonds and other financial assets for which records are stored digitally and for which currently there is a need for a trusted third party to provide verification of the transaction.

For the market to reach the next phase in its evolution toward mainstream acceptance and stable expansion, each of the following key market participants — merchants and consumers, tech developers, investors, financial institutions and regulators will play an important role.

However, cryptocurrencies are generally categorised into two fields, i.e. technology and finance. Women in technology and finance are often overlooked and underrepresented, with many having a common belief that these two fields are predominantly ruled by men. The most commonly cited studies place female participation in the crypto community (including the developers, investors, and casually interested individuals) somewhere between 4% and 6%. According to a popular survey, on the investment side too, the gender gap exceeds the existing gap within traditional investments with twice as many men as women invest in cryptocurrency. The percentage of women employed in the financial world is low and their investment behaviour also differs significantly from that of men.

Where the cryptocurrencies are being promoted as the next generation financial instrument and a way to democratize a traditionally walled-off finance field and increase the investor diversity, we face a critical problem; not enough women. With countries like El Salvador, Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba, Zimbabwe etc. starting to accept crypto payments and many other developing and under-developed countries coming up with strategies to regulate and promote the growth of crypto market, there is no doubt that the cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technologies are here to stay.

To address this issue, bridge the current gender gap in the crypto industry, and facilitate the financial inclusion of women, the International Foundation for Women Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Development (IFWEE) has came up with an initiative called Women Empowerment Coin (WEC).

Women Empowerment Coin — WEC is the first-of-its-kind community-driven and utility-based cryptocurrency token on Binance Smart Chain that works towards creating awareness of blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies among women, and thereby leveraging its benefits to help the women across the globe become financially independent.

For more information, please visit www.wec.finance and www.ifwee.org. You may also write to us at info@wec.finance / info@ifwee.org