The Women who are paving the way for the future of Blockchain
Blockchain is a technology that has transformed the world in several ways in several different fields including banking, logistics, cyber security, finance and much more. The effects of blockchain are still to be fully realised and the impact it will have on our civilization are not completely understood. It is a revolution that is as big, if not bigger, than the internet. Even though the technology has been here since 2008, its revelations are only now coming out of the woodworks and Venture Capitalists are the first ones that have jumped on the wagon and are here to explore avenues that are pushing its limits.
But aside from other traditional ventures, Blockchain is something that is seeing a lot of women from across the world taking part in it. From tech-first landscapes of the USA and Europe to traditionally conservative corners of the India and Middle-East, women from all over the world are entering the field and becoming leaders. We have compiled a list of some of the best women in the field.
So, these are the top female Venture Capitalists that are changing the landscape of the Blockchain world today:
- Kavita Gupta, Founder, Delta Blockchain Fund
Kavita Gupta is the founder and general partner of Delta Blockchain Fund, an early-stage blockchain infrastructure fund with more than $120 million in AUM.
An industry leader for the past 18 years, she has worked with The World Bank, IFC, ConsenSys, and the Eric Schmidt Family Office. Prior to this, Kavita Gupta founded ConsenSys Ventures, one of the first early-stage Blockchain funds, and along with it, the Tachyon Accelerator. She made first checks investments via ConsenSys Ventures into businesses that helped define their industries, including Polygon, Starkware, Quantstamp, and Sorare, to mention a few. She teaches the highly accredited Beyond Bitcoin course at Stanford University as a visiting scholar.
Being a founding member of the first Green bonds and Social impact bonds earned her the UN Innovation Award. She has provided advice to the Hus Institute, UNICEF Giga, Katapult Investment Fund, International Emmy Awards, among other organisations. In 2020, Kavita was recognized for her work as one of the best leaders in the Etherium space and gave a Ted talk on ‘What if the World used one currency’ and highlighted the need and the benefits of a decentralised global currency system that would put all documentation, banking and financial services on blockchain.
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Professor Tonya M. Evans, Professor, Dickinson Law
Tonya gives undervalued lifelong learners who have traditionally been excluded from the IT and finance industries the power to take charge of their financial destinies and participate in the new digital economy. She established and oversaw the “Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Law” programme at the Franklin Pierce School of Law at the University of New Hampshire, which has been consistently ranked among the top 10 law schools for intellectual property law for almost 30 years. The programme teaches women the essential techniques for identifying, developing, and leveraging their business assets, including data and intellectual property.
She has worked in the industry for almost ten years, and at the 2019 Blockchain Revolution Global Conference in Toronto, she won the first-ever Enterprise Blockchain Award in the Governance and Policy Leadership category.
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Susan Crew, Content Creator, Crypto Granny
With her years of experience in the financial sector, including roles at Citi, Investec, and Commonwealth Bank, Susan delivers incredibly insightful articles into the world of cryptocurrencies.
She often creates films that teach consumers about trading strategies, ICOs, and crypto market analysis through in-depth research to demonstrate how digital assets are, in many ways, superior to other traditional asset classes. She stands out from many other content producers in the cryptocurrency industry who can spread false information because she is recognised for offering vital guidance.
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Lucy Gazmararian, Associate Director, PwC Crypto & Fintech Advisory
Lucy is a dynamic, driven individual who is passionate about the future of finance. She has played a crucial role in working with the top crypto exchanges, traditional financial institutions, and regulators to raise awareness of the space. She is the senior leader and employee number 2 of PwC’s Crypto & Fintech team, which is based in Hong Kong. She provides advice on a variety of topics, such as licensing requirements, crypto asset policies, and capital raising procedures. She is honoured to be a member of the PwC Hong Kong team that was the first and only member of the Big Four to audit a crypto exchange that was listed publicly on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
In addition to this, she founded “Women in Crypto Hong Kong” in 2019 and supports women in technology. The Women’s Foundation 30% Club, which works to overcome the gender gap in board directors among Hong Kong-listed firms, named her a “Woman to Watch” in 2019. She is also actively involved in the larger Asian crypto and blockchain ecosystem, helping to form networks, forge partnerships, and promote adoption and growth in the field as Co-Chair of the FinTech Association of Hong Kong’s Blockchain Committee.
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Simone Maini, Chief Executive Officer, Elliptic
Simone is a motivated, dedicated, and involved person with extensive experience in financial crime and technology. Her current role as the CEO of Elliptic, a blockchain research company, supports the secure market adoption of cryptocurrency assets. She manages and directs the London-based company in its efforts to safeguard businesses from financial crime in the space, manage risk, and adhere to regulatory compliance on a global scale as part of her mission to increase access to cryptocurrencies. Her essential function at Elliptic is instilling trust in the digital economy so that businesses may take advantage of its benefits.
She helped turn Elliptic from a modest start-up into a global leader in identifying and stopping unlawful conduct on the blockchain. She is a strong believer of the fact that confidence is essential to success in this business, regardless of your gender.
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Inbal Polak, Director of Fund for Digital Assets, YRD Capital
Inbal is one of the few women working in the hedge fund industry for digital assets, and she is an advocate for increasing the number of women in venture capital positions. She is a pioneer in her own right because she helped develop London-based YRD Capital, a global fund for digital assets, the first Fund of Funds in the world to concentrate only on quantitative strategies in crypto assets.
She is passionate about encouraging more women to participate in cryptocurrency and other alternative investments. She founded NEOME – The Women Investing Club in Israel, of which she is the Co-Founder and CIO, in response to venture capitalists’ claims that they couldn’t locate female investors, in an effort to change the attitude of the investing industry and increase the profile of women in the field.
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Noelle Acheson, Director of Research, CoinDesk
Every Sunday, Noelle does research, examines the results, and publishes the “Crypto Long and Short” newsletter, which is read by tens of thousands of people. She has drawn attention for making the frequently difficult world of cryptocurrencies and its advancements understandable for people who are interested in learning about it and inviting everyone into the crypto sphere, even though many of them are professional investors.
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Elizabeth Kukka, Executive Director, Ethereum Classic Labs
Liz serves as the Executive Director of the ETC Labs programme, which is aimed at promoting the growth of Ethereum Classic and assisting blockchain entrepreneurs. She brings a variety of experience from the tech sector to the organisation. She previously held the position of Head of Operations at Plug & Play Tech Centre, one of the first and most reputable tech accelerators in Silicon Valley.
She oversees the accelerator programme at ETC Labs for businesses with a focus on blockchain and cryptocurrencies and is in charge of its overall operations, procedures, workshops, networking, investment committee, and introductions. The Silicon Valley Insider Podcast, Ethereum Classic Show, CoinDesk, The Crypto Globalist, and LiveBitCoin News are just a few of the publications that have extensively covered her outstanding work with ETC Labs.
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Sofie Blakstad, CEO and Founder, hiveonline
Sofie works as a full-time entrepreneur and an amateur economist. She learned that the future of finance is outside the banking industry, in communities where formal banking has never touched after building five main banking systems and numerous payment systems during her banking career.
She is currently the CEO and Founder of hiveonline, where she is attempting to develop a distributed community finance system based on blockchain that would enable underprivileged communities to accumulate wealth without the aid of a traditional financial institution. Her creative idea involves allowing businesspeople, including women, from some of the most underdeveloped nations in the globe to participate in the economy.
She writes studies influencing their approach to sustainable blockchain, advises the UN, Central Banks, and international NGOs on blockchain and cryptocurrency challenges, and is the author of “Fintech Revolution” as a result of her knowledge.
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Christina Lomazzo, Blockchain Lead, UNICEF
Christina is in charge of UNICEF’s blockchain initiatives as they investigate what it means to function in a world with digital financing. She formerly led the team that co-founded Deloitte’s Public Sector Blockchain Practise in Canada and currently oversees a committed group of 5 employees at UNICEF who are building blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions for the organisation.
Additionally, Christina is in charge of UNICEF’s investigations into ERC-20 tokens and how they might be used in the context of UNICEF’s work, as well as how cryptocurrencies can contribute to a more equitable and transparent implementation of universal connectivity for schools and school communities worldwide.
