Why women stay away from bitcoin

'There are 36 men and one woman going to a big bitcoin summit on Richard Branson's private island'Fusion, April 29

Am I correct in thinking that bitcoin enthusiasts believe they've created the ultimate universal payment system - better than any standing banking system or government currency?

Pretty much.

Isn't there perhaps a slight flaw in this assumption if 96 per cent of that community is male?

Yes. But, hey, I'm a woman who writes a lot about bitcoin. To use bitcoin community speak: ask me anything.

So you do go to these exclusive bitcoin meet-ups?

No. Since I am both a critic of the movement's hyperbolic nature and a woman, I have never had the privilege of being invited. As a rule you have to be a bitcoin developer, a coder or a marketeer to secure an invite. That said, I do get to chat to community members as and when they show up to conferences and panel events aimed at enlightening the bitcoin-illiterate. Incidentally, the bitcoin conference business is fast emerging as a cottage industry in its own right.

And how often do you come across female bitcoin experts?

I've been covering this story for more than two years and the first time I encountered a woman directly involved in a bitcoin venture was only last month.

What makes cryptocurrency so unappealing to women, then?

You mean to women as investors and users, or as bitcoin developers and entrepreneurs? There are really two issues here.

Let's just say as users.

Well, I'd say the heart of that problem is the fact that bitcoin doesn't solve any of the pressing problems that women, as traditional custodians of the family wallet, have with payments. To make women want to use bitcoin in large numbers you would need to show it will solve a pressing payments problem better than the current system. But bitcoin's primary problem-solving capacity lies more in defending privacy and circumventing the need to trust others.

Are you saying the system isn't very easy to use?

To use it in its purest sense, and safely, requires a huge educational investment in cryptographic key management, bitcoin mining protocols, online security and basic coding fundamentals - not to mention the general methodology of the system. Then there's the fact that you have to wait a minimum of 10 minutes for any transaction to be confirmed. That would be a huge investment for not much upside, as far as many women are concerned.

So you're saying women don't see that learning curve as a worthwhile use of time?

Precisely. In my experience, women care less about the payments process and more about the retail experience itself. Bitcoin's 10-minute confirmation time doesn't exactly improve that. Most of all, who wants to give up convenience just to be part of a system devoid of trust that makes transactions irreversible and passes all the power to the merchant?

OK, but what about the advantages in terms of online privacy and functionality?

Women, like many men, don't necessarily have a problem with giving credit card details to trusted and frequently used retailers. Indeed, we like to benefit from special offers and to be rewarded for loyalty. Once a retailer such as Amazon has your details you have one-click payment.

But what about when people are dealing with unscrupulous providers on the internet?

Well, herein lies, I think, the ultimate explanation for why men adore bitcoin while women remain, at best, ambivalent to its charms. Women often prefer to manage risk through information sharing and reputation assessment, and can be cautious about dealing with unknown counterparts with no online reputation or history.

Now consider the primary use of bitcoin on the internet: online gambling, drugs, black-market services and pornography. It's not preposterous to assume many of its male fans like the system precisely because it obscures proof of those transactions - perhaps from the women in their lives.

Perhaps there's a fundamental asymmetry between the genders?

In the sense that gossip circles historically empowered members of the physically weaker sex against the stronger one by allowing them to make or break social or financial reputations - and bitcoin does the opposite by making it easier for men to keep secrets in a group? Yes, I'd definitely agree.

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