Partner Jessica Lee Pens IWD Article on Bridging the Financial Gender Gap amid Crypto Revolution

In an International Women’s Day (IWD) tribute for Global Relay Intelligence & Practice (Grip), partner Jessica Lee highlights the potential of blockchain to bridge the financial gender gap.

The March 8 article noted that blockchain technology may be a catalyst for financial inclusion, as current statistics show that women make up a disproportionately large share of unbanked adults worldwide and that men average up to more than 42% in total wealth in the U.K. by the age of 64, according to the Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) Database. The database reported that technology is helping drive inclusive access to finance for younger women in developing economies.

“Blockchain technology has also emerged as a potential game-changer in the quest for financial inclusion,” Lee wrote. “Blockchain’s key tenets of decentralisation, transparency and trust make it ideal for overcoming traditional barriers that exclude certain demographics from mainstream financial systems.”

Cryptoassets and cryptocurrencies offer borderless and low-cost transactions, which enables access to financial services for the unbanked or underbanked populations, which disproportionately include women in many regions, she wrote.

“While blockchain represents a new opportunity to improve financial inclusion, with a growing number of women investing and trading cryptocurrencies and increasing in number in the blockchain industry workforce, there is still much work to be done to prevent ongoing biases and discriminatory behaviors from erecting new barriers to women in the industry,” she wrote.

Blockchain and crypto presents a unique opportunity to reshape the global financial landscape and for women in particular, improve financial inclusion, providing a chance to break free from traditional constraints and actively participate in economic activities and raise capital for business ventures that may have been inaccessible or challenging to access previously, Lee wrote.

“Embracing the potential of blockchain and crypto with a view to improving financial inclusivity will require a conscious effort to remove age-old discrimination and responsibly build a more inclusive financial ecosystem from the ground up that empowers individuals, transcending gender and socio-economic barriers, and propelling us towards a more equitable future,” she concluded.

Read the full article here.