Why do women prefer to trade crypto over Forex?
Women’s participation in the global crypto ecosystem has increased significantly in recent years due to increasing awareness and a wide range of trading opportunities. Just like FX, crypto is still a “male-dominated” field, but the latest research reports indicate that the growing number of female crypto investors is overshadowing the growth of male users.
BTC Markets, an Australian crypto exchange led by CEO, Caroline Bowler, witnessed a whopping 175% jump in female users during 2021, compared to a peak of 80% in male users. The IRCI survey of 2,000 Australian investors showed that the female Bitcoin owners in Australia grew from 8.3% in 2020 to almost 16% in 2021. Countries around the world witnessed a similar growth trend in female crypto participation.
If we compare the currency market with crypto, the popularity of the latter has increased significantly in the last decade, mainly due to crypto’s status as an “emerging” asset class. While the involvement of women in cryptocurrency trading has increased significantly, the forex market has found it difficult to match the rapid growth of female traders in the digital asset space.
But why do women traders prefer crypto over FX? There are several factors behind it. First, the cryptocurrency market is open 24 hours a day and seven days a week, compared to the forex market which has limited opening hours and no activity on weekends. Second, barriers to entry in the forex market are more than crypto. Due to highly regulated foreign exchange markets, new entrants must go through an extensive list of requirements to begin trading. On the other hand, the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies allows users to spend less time on the client onboarding process. Third, the rise of DeFi, NFTs and meme coins has allowed female cryptocurrency investors to trade a wide range of products.
‘Not so male dominant’
Maria Stankevich, Chief Business Development Officer at EXMO, believes that the increasing participation of women in crypto has broken the stereotype that crypto is a “male-dominated industry”.
“Contrary to popular belief about the dominance of men in the cryptocurrency industry, statistics show that this stereotype is outdated. According to a study by Grayscale Investments, 43% of all those interested in buying Bitcoin in 2019 were women. Considering that only 3 .5% of ladies were interested in cryptocurrencies in 2016, it becomes clear that girls are starting to play an increasingly important role in the global crypto community,” she said.
The impact of the pandemic
The global outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 played an important role in the growth of female cryptocurrency traders. Women began to explore investment and trading opportunities across various financial markets. Although it also positively affected women’s participation in the forex market, the scale of growth across the cryptocurrency market was much more than the forex market due to the opportunities in the digital asset ecosystem.
“We see the same story on EXMO.com. The gender breakdown of traders on EXMO is 43% female and 57% male. The number of female traders began to grow since the beginning of the pandemic, with the most significant growth occurring in the number of women aged 18-24 and 35 to 44. We discovered that male traders often involved their wives in their favorite business,” explained Stankevich.
“Gender doesn’t matter”
According to Kati Aronson, co-founder and CBDO at USDFX, gender is not a concern in the cryptocurrency market.
“Technically, all cryptocurrency investors are just a series of crypto wallets, and all dApps and smart contracts are just an audited code. And the code has no gender. In crypto, your reputation is based on your results, and your alignment with Bitcoin and web3 adoption. It was always like that. You don’t need to specify your gender to HODL and be a Bitcoin maxi. You either belong there and are willing to support the ecosystem growth or not,” she noted.
Risk taking
A recent report from BTC markets indicates that women are depositing large amounts of money but making a small number of transactions. Gabriela Reyes, LivelyVerse’s CEO and co-founder, believes that despite the risky nature of cryptocurrencies, women are more patient in their trading approach.
“I believe that this first ‘risky’ behavior is a reflection of the confidence and opportunities women see in this sector. First, it unlocks greater financial independence. Second, it can be combined with a day job or maternity leave – a fact that can also is reflected in the fact that women initiate fewer daily trades,” she commented.
One of the main reasons why cryptocurrency trading is booming among women is that the overall participation of women in crypto is much more than in the currency market. Yi He, co-founder of Binance, Flori Marquez, co-founder of BlockFi, and Caroline Bowler, CEO of BTC Markets, are some key figures leading prominent companies in the crypto ecosystem. Women make up almost 30% of the workforce in the crypto industry. Considering the recent increase in female cryptocurrency investors and the overall increase in women’s participation, it’s safe to say that gender parity among crypto traders is in sight.
Women’s participation in the global crypto ecosystem has increased significantly in recent years due to increasing awareness and a wide range of trading opportunities. Just like FX, crypto is still a “male-dominated” field, but the latest research reports indicate that the growing number of female crypto investors is overshadowing the growth of male users.
BTC Markets, an Australian crypto exchange led by CEO, Caroline Bowler, witnessed a whopping 175% jump in female users during 2021, compared to a peak of 80% in male users. The IRCI survey of 2,000 Australian investors showed that the female Bitcoin owners in Australia grew from 8.3% in 2020 to almost 16% in 2021. Countries around the world witnessed a similar growth trend in female crypto participation.
If we compare the currency market with crypto, the popularity of the latter has increased significantly in the last decade, mainly due to crypto’s status as an “emerging” asset class. While the involvement of women in cryptocurrency trading has increased significantly, the forex market has found it difficult to match the rapid growth of female traders in the digital asset space.
But why do women traders prefer crypto over FX? There are several factors behind it. First, the cryptocurrency market is open 24 hours a day and seven days a week, compared to the forex market which has limited opening hours and no activity on weekends. Second, barriers to entry in the forex market are more than crypto. Due to highly regulated foreign exchange markets, new entrants must go through an extensive list of requirements to begin trading. On the other hand, the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies allows users to spend less time on the client onboarding process. Third, the rise of DeFi, NFTs and meme coins has allowed female cryptocurrency investors to trade a wide range of products.
‘Not so male dominant’
Maria Stankevich, Chief Business Development Officer at EXMO, believes that the increasing participation of women in crypto has broken the stereotype that crypto is a “male-dominated industry”.
“Contrary to popular belief about the dominance of men in the cryptocurrency industry, statistics show that this stereotype is outdated. According to a study by Grayscale Investments, 43% of all those interested in buying Bitcoin in 2019 were women. Considering that only 3 .5% of ladies were interested in cryptocurrencies in 2016, it becomes clear that girls are starting to play an increasingly important role in the global crypto community,” she said.
The impact of the pandemic
The global outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 played an important role in the growth of female cryptocurrency traders. Women began to explore investment and trading opportunities across various financial markets. Although it also positively impacted women’s participation in the forex market, the scale of growth across the cryptocurrency market was much more than the forex market due to the opportunities in the digital asset ecosystem.
“We see the same story on EXMO.com. The gender breakdown of traders on EXMO is 43% female and 57% male. The number of female traders began to grow since the beginning of the pandemic, with the most significant growth occurring in the number of women aged 18-24 and 35 to 44. We discovered that male traders often involved their wives in their favorite business,” explained Stankevich.
“Gender doesn’t matter”
According to Kati Aronson, co-founder and CBDO at USDFX, gender is not a concern in the cryptocurrency market.
“Technically, all cryptocurrency investors are just a series of crypto wallets, and all dApps and smart contracts are just an audited code. And the code has no gender. In crypto, your reputation is based on your results, and your alignment with Bitcoin and web3 adoption. It was always like that. You don’t need to specify your gender to HODL and be a Bitcoin maxi. You either belong there and are willing to support the ecosystem growth or not,” she noted.
Risk taking
A recent report from BTC markets indicates that women are depositing large amounts of money but making a small number of transactions. Gabriela Reyes, LivelyVerse’s CEO and co-founder, believes that despite the risky nature of cryptocurrencies, women are more patient in their trading approach.
“I believe that this first ‘risky’ behavior is a reflection of the confidence and opportunities women see in this sector. First, it unlocks greater financial independence. Second, it can be combined with a day job or maternity leave – a fact that can also is reflected in the fact that women initiate fewer daily trades,” she commented.
One of the main reasons why cryptocurrency trading is booming among women is that the overall participation of women in crypto is much more than in the currency market. Yi He, co-founder of Binance, Flori Marquez, co-founder of BlockFi, and Caroline Bowler, CEO of BTC Markets, are some key figures leading prominent companies in the crypto ecosystem. Women make up almost 30% of the workforce in the crypto industry. Considering the recent increase in female cryptocurrency investors and the overall increase in women’s participation, it’s safe to say that gender parity among crypto traders is in sight.
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