
Bitcoin's gender divide could be a bad sign - geedy
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bitcoin-s-gender-divide-could-be-a-bad-sign-experts-say-1.4458884
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throwawaysay
One thing that strikes me is how opt-in the Bitcoin space is. I started
participating in forums and on r/bitcoin back in late 2012, and real names
were seldom used.

It's tiring to see Bitcoin berated for being non-inclusive when there haven't
been any barriers stopping women from participating — either by buying coins,
starting/joining companies or participating in discussions.

And if it is true, as this article suggests, that women are less interested in
Bitcoin due to the extreme risk, why are we so collectively outraged about the
gender divide amongst startup employees?

edit: rather than downvote, would anyone care to discuss this?

~~~
theprotocol
>would anyone care to discuss this?

The prescriptive nature of their "argument" that a gender split must be 50-50
or else it's sexism cannot be justified.

Enforcing outcomes is not an idea that emerges from any chain of reasoning; it
is simply tyranny disguised as activism.

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denkmoon
If only there were some kind of science explaining why this might be the case,
[https://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?q=testosterone+risk+ta...](https://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?q=testosterone+risk+taking)

Of course the article is merely pointing out that bitcoin is risky business,
which we all already know.

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seibelj
> "There are studies out there that suggest men are predisposed towards
> bubbles in a way that women are not."

But there are no differences between men and women (?)

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dvfjsdhgfv
I told my female coworkers about BTC in October, clearly explaining the trends
and the risks, and encouraging them to play with their pocket money. They were
mildly interested. In November I told them about it again; their answer was
"it's too risky". In December I cashed out earning a few thousands. I told
them about it, and their answer was "good for you". It was clear they are
averse to risk. But is it necessarily a bad thing? I have some male friends
who lost huge amounts of money, and arriving late to the party is quite risky
anyway. My female coworkers just continue living normally, without worrying
their savings lose value day by day.

------
adventured
The media is simultaneously selling both angles of course:

"Bitcoin Started With All Men. Now Crypto Is Opening to Women"

"Four out of 30 of the largest initial coin offerings this year through
October had female co-founders, double the number of women leading the 30
technology companies with the largest international public offerings
worldwide. Two of the female-led ICOs were among the biggest so far."

[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-12/bitcoin-s...](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-12/bitcoin-
started-with-all-men-now-crypto-is-opening-up-to-women)

~~~
Operyl
It feels like they’re just writing whatever they want, as per usual. Perfect
filler content for them I guess?

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booleandilemma
I guess Coinbase should add more pink to their UI.

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dev_throw
This is an interesting observation, but what would the ideal gender ratio even
look like?

In the software industry right now, it is still common to have teams with
little to no representation of women on technical teams. The decentralized
nature of crypto and lack of regulation around crypto projects means that
people are free to work with whoever they like, and more often than not, men
are working with other men. In terms of investing, women and men have equal
opportunity (internet connection, and the urge to resist the voice in their
head saying its a bubble).

------
oh_sigh
The article warns of the divide being dangerous and harmful but never actually
says what kind of problems it causes.

~~~
sandworm101
It doesn't attempt to say that the gender divide is the cause of anything. The
theory is that women are less risk-taking than men, that we should see a lack
of women wanting to participate as evidence of increased risk: Evidence of
rather than causation of risk.

------
CryptoPunk
The early adopters of emerging technology are generally men.

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calvinbhai
Anything male dominated is probably a bubble then?

Eg: Construction workers Oil well jobs Anything with a lot of physical labor

?

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myaccountzz
Oh no,.. HN to the rescue, someone fix this awful sexism.

~~~
dang
We've banned this account for repeatedly violating the site guidelines. Doing
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