Cryptocurrency is inundated with white males, but the currency itself doesn’t discriminate. Its accessibility is the most attractive feature, but women’s participation and contribution are not given the same level of exposure or recognition, and this leads to gender disparity.
Everyone is fighting for influence in this industry, and in our patriarchal society, women tend to do extensive research and expand their expertise to get on the same level as a man with comparatively less know-how. The extra work is the reason why the following women have made a name for themselves in the cryptocurrency world. These women have not stopped at starting a business but are working towards closing the gender gap and making the technology more inclusive.
Kathleen Breitman
Anyone with even a mild interest in cryptocurrencies is aware of Tezos either in a positive or negative light. A staggering and unforeseen amount of capital (230 Million Dollars!) was acquired during Tezos’-a cryptocurrency project, funding.
Founded by the combined brainpower of the Breitmans, Tezos aims to create an open-source platform for assets and applications backed by a global community of validators, researcher, and builders. They created the Tezos token-XTC intending to distribute the decision making power, among the token holders, regarding its improvement.
Kathleen Breitman, along with her husband- Arthur, developed Tezos in 2014 and released its position and white paper in the same year.
Tezos made a wave in the crypto industry after raising $232 million in their record high ICO. Breitman’s came into the spotlight again over a dispute with Johann Gevers– the then president of Tezos foundation. Eventually, Gevers stepped down and was replaced by Ryan Jesperson.
The richest woman in the crypto space, Kathleen Breitman, laid the groundwork for Tezos. After finishing high school, she attended Cornell University from 2008-2012.
Her work experience started in 2009 as the Vice President of R&M Political. Kathleen was a Robert L. Bartley Fellow for The Wall Street Journal, in college. Over the following years, she was employed with De Dicto, Accenture, R3 CEV. With extensive knowledge in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, Kathleen cofounded Tezos, with her husband.
The inundated funding proved anything but a cakewalk leading to both physical and mental prostration. According to Kathleen-“Arthur’s the brains. [Kathleen’s] the brawn.” and her strength made it possible for the Breitman’s to weather lawsuits and public feuds.
Connie Gallippi
Bitcoin and Blockchain technology was only being used to gain profits until 2013. Connie Gallippi caught the infectious energy of the crypto industry and was inspired to employ its potential to help others. Her determination and inventiveness led to the establishment of BitGive-world’s first cryptocurrency based Nonprofit Organization. BitGive aims to bridge the gap between technology and its practical implementation for humanitarian work and non-profits made it the premier BitCoin Nonprofit to receive a tax exemption status in the United States at the Federal Level.
Charitable organizations need to conduct extensive research and require elaborate accounting to manage large amounts of money. Transparency and accountability are the most significant problems among NGOs, and BitGive aims to tackle this issue with the help of its flagship project-GiveTrack. This platform shares financial information and project results directly with the donors to ensure accountability and transparency. Being a decentralized, public ledger, Blockchain makes this data accessible.
This crypto-based NGO has raised money for well-known non-profits like Save the Children, TECHO, Medic Mobile, The Water Project, and Team Rubicon.
Connie Gallippi, executive director and founder of BitGive, graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelors in Natural Resource Management and started working with North State Resources as a Project Manager and Environment Analyst.
Gallippi’s skills in Natural Resource Mangement, Sustainable Development, Philanthropy, leadership, etc., were demonstrated during her employment with EDAW, Sacramento Tree Foundation, and California Urban Forests Council. She assisted clients in securing over $30 million in competitive grant funding during her six years at Conservation Strategy Group as a Senior Policy Consultant.
As BitGive’s Executive Director, Gallippe provides leadership for the organization and her responsibilities, include long-term visioning, planning, and management of the organization.
Elizabeth Rossiello
Fintech companies have brought a transformational wave in the financial services industry, but this was limited to retail banking until BitPesa, a digital foreign exchange and payment platform, was founded by Elizabeth Rossiello. Established in 2013, in Kenya, BitPesa allows its customers to use bitcoins for making payments to, from, and within the frontier markets. It was developed to enable Kenyan citizens to transfer money to mobile wallets but expanded its operation to other African countries in 2015. Working on decentralization principles, BitPesa helped provide people the access to the global economy at a nominal rate.
BitPesa’s Series A funding raised $2.5 million in 2017 and became the inaugural Blockchain company to be licensed by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.
Elizabeth graduated with a Masters in International Business and Finance from Columbia University, New York and interned with the State of West Virginia economic development and German Bundestag during her university years. Rossiello also acquired the Robert Bosch Fellowship and has worked as an analyst with Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse and as a consultant with Acumen Fund.
Her struggles securing a full-time contract during her pregnancy despite having an impressive resume and extensive knowledge in risk analysis and microfinance pushed her to start her own company- BitPesa. Realizing the low-cost, low barries, and high-speed payment potential of cryptocurrency, she employed bitcoin to act as a digital foreign exchange currency in Kenya and later expanded to other African countries, and Europe.
Her former associates initially funded her project, and it later attracted investments from Tim Draper.
Rossiello ensures that BitPesa’s employees represent the communities they are located in, and more than 70% of the team is African, and women make up one half.
These entrepreneurs serve as an inspiration to young women like me and prevent us from being demotivated in an industry brimming with testosterone. To see more women in power, these businesswomen are going out of their way to hire more women.
Blockchain technology is similar to the early days of the internet, and we want women on the front lines.
