CryptoChicks Breaks Down Blockchain Barriers

Author: David McMillin       

CryptoChicks

The 24-hour CryptoChicks Hackathon brought women coders together.

CryptoChicks Hackathon and Conference 2019
May 31-June 2, 2019Toronto87 female and youth hackers, as part of a larger conference of 450 attendees

The potential for blockchain to revolutionize industry models has gotten a lot of attention recently, but the emerging blockchain industry has been less than progressive in one area: It lacks women. According to a 2018 survey conducted by blockchain data company LongHash, men have dominated the industry. In fact, 38 of the 100 start-up companies in the LongHash report didn’t employ one single female.

CryptoChicks

Tracy Leparulo

The nonprofit, volunteer-run CryptoChicks, launched in 2017, is on a mission to change that by growing the economic, professional, and leadership potential of women and youth in blockchain and AI technologies in a variety of ways. One of them is the CryptoChicks Hackathon. For 24 hours, a group of 87 women and youth collaborated on blockchain-backed solutions tracking carbon emissions in cars, decentralizing postal delivery service, eliminating insurance fraud, and other initiatives that have the potential to revolutionize not just the blockchain industry, but address societal ills.

Tracy Leparulo, CEO and founder of Untraceable, a company that specializes in events for blockchain and cryptocurrency communities, told Convene that the hackathon is a reflection of the shift in the larger industry where “women are taking the lead. Blockchain is a brand-new industry, so everyone has a chance to catch up. No matter where you live or who you are, you have a solid chance at being an equal.”

More CryptoChicks face-to-face events are being planned to change the playing field in the blockchain industry itself by creating more gender balance and equality. And those same events will aim to leverage the technology to solve some of our world’s big challenges.

David McMillin is an associate editor at Convene.

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