A new survey shared with Cointelegraph found that the proportion of Australian women owning crypto assets has doubled in the last year.
The 2021 Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index (IRCI) of 2000 Australians found that the number of women who currently or have previously invested in cryptocurrencies increased from 10.3% in 2020 to 20% in 2021. The percentage of women owning cryptocurrencies Bitcoin also rose from 8.3% to 14.8% according to the survey.
Independent Reserve is an Australia-based cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in 2013 and has over 200,000 users.
Karen Cohen, Vice Chair of the Board of Blockchain Australia, said that more women have entered the crypto market this year as the asset class continues to become a mainstream investment. Speaking to Cointelegraph, he said:
โI think it tells you that investing in crypto is less risky and is just one of many different ways you can invest. I think it's kind of a sign that if a bank thinks it's okay, then you know it's a safer place to invest. "
Cohen cited examples such as CBA adding crypto trading options to its application in early November.
Independent Reserve co-founder Adrian Przelozny added that "over time, as cryptocurrency investments become more acceptable and mainstream, the perceived risk also reduces."
She added: "I think as that happens, you will see more and more women enter the market."
The 2019 grayscale research showed that women tend to be more risk averse investors, which is often attributed as a reason for the gender gap between female and male crypto investors.
The ICRI also found that women were more likely to listen to their family and friends about cryptocurrencies. 56.7% of the women surveyed said they would enter the cryptocurrency market based on advice from family and friends, compared to 42.2% of the men surveyed.
Cohen said, "Many women receive referrals from their friends and family, so they feel a little more confident participating."
On the other hand, 45.9% of men said they would consider entering the crypto market due to interest aroused by media coverage, compared to 41.8% of women surveyed.
Closing the gender gap
Cohen said that, in the future, she hopes that full gender parity among crypto investors will still be "for a while", because it is so entangled with gender stereotypes and the way women are educated to understand. risk and investment.
Przelozny agreed and said he could not speculate on when the investment gap will close. He said: โAs for when it becomes 50/50, I don't know. But I think it's definitely going in the right direction. "
Cohen also said that as Metaverse and blockchain games begin to dominate the cryptocurrency market, users can expect that "the landscape will completely change again."
"Is the game more of a boys club than a crypto?" he asked, concluding that "no one really knows."
Related: How women are literally changing the face of enterprise blockchain!
On last year's IRCI report, Cohen urged decision makers in the crypto industry to include women in events and panel discussions, saying "we are what we see."
The IRCI is an annual cross-sectional survey of over 2,000 Australians conducted by PureProfile. Independent Reserve says its sample reflects the gender, age and geographic distribution of the country.
