• Forum has been upgraded, all links, images, etc are as they were. Please see Official Announcements for more information

Why women stay away from bitcoin (Cryptos)

darkchild

Active member
An interesting article that should help the devs and marketing teams come up with some solutions. DASH has already addressed at least one point that the article raises.

‘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 g**bling, 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

[email protected]

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0d52ab06-ef41-11e4-a6d2-00144feab7de.html#axzz3YunXYU00
 
I only skimmed the article but certainly will read it later. Here is some satire about the whole scenario, http://bravetheworld.com/2015/01/28/men-bitcoin/
I liked the satirical piece as I think it helps portray how I feel towards questioning of gender when it comes to anything online where a person could pose themselves as whichever or lack thereof as they wish. If adoption rates are disproportionate, the better argument to be made is potentially males are more predispositioned towards gambling.

I know for a fact that some of the best developers in cryptocurrency have been female. Perhaps women are more cautious investors? The only thing that's for certain is that payment of bills is not exactly easier yet by using currency instead of fiat as most of us earn our living in the damn stuff. Male, female, transgender, or whatever, if we want to use our salary to pay our monthly bills, we will have to
  1. Receive fiat currency in bank account.
  2. Buy cryptocurrency with fiat currency. [maybe you buy bitcoin, maybe you buy Dash--does not matter] +Fees +Headache
  3. Use external service to pay bill +Fees +Headache
On top of that process, you are at risk that the price of the volatile cryptocurrency market will shift, and as it does many times, negatively effectively now having less power to pay bills as the cryptocurrency is ultimately being converted back into fiat to pay the bill.

What cryptocurrency is at the current state is just a good idea that hasn't caught on enough yet for everybody to take seriously for the day-to-day activities. People are aware it can work but most people do not trust it will be as secure as fiat is. Many are aware our fiat currencies have devalued over time due to inflation at the behest of central banks, but the real question is will the fiat devalue more quickly or slowly than the cryptocurrency? Most people are living on wages paycheck to paycheck. That's a large gamble for those people to incur when they are saving little to no money month to month. These are issues we all face equally.

I could be wrong and if so, I'd love to hear from that prospective.
 
I liked the satirical piece as I think it helps portray how I feel towards questioning of gender when it comes to anything online where a person could pose themselves as whichever or lack thereof as they wish. If adoption rates are disproportionate, the better argument to be made is potentially males are more predispositioned towards gambling.

I know for a fact that some of the best developers in cryptocurrency have been female. Perhaps women are more cautious investors? The only thing that's for certain is that payment of bills is not exactly easier yet by using currency instead of fiat as most of us earn our living in the damn stuff. Male, female, transgender, or whatever, if we want to use our salary to pay our monthly bills, we will have to
  1. Receive fiat currency in bank account.
  2. Buy cryptocurrency with fiat currency. [maybe you buy bitcoin, maybe you buy Dash--does not matter] +Fees +Headache
  3. Use external service to pay bill +Fees +Headache
On top of that process, you are at risk that the price of the volatile cryptocurrency market will shift, and as it does many times, negatively effectively now having less power to pay bills as the cryptocurrency is ultimately being converted back into fiat to pay the bill.

What cryptocurrency is at the current state is just a good idea that hasn't caught on enough yet for everybody to take seriously for the day-to-day activities. People are aware it can work but most people do not trust it will be as secure as fiat is. Many are aware our fiat currencies have devalued over time due to inflation at the behest of central banks, but the real question is will the fiat devalue more quickly or slowly than the cryptocurrency? Most people are living on wages paycheck to paycheck. That's a large gamble for those people to incur when they are saving little to no money month to month. These are issues we all face equally.

I could be wrong and if so, I'd love to hear from that prospective.
I'm Tao Of Satoshi and I approve of this message.
 
I agree with this. Women traditionally, and in actuality, generally pay the bills. I know some women who's husbands take care of that, and they simply get an allowance to buy food, etc... But the majority pay the bills. BTW, this includes working women. The only one I know of who doesn't has a husband that manages money in business, so she's glad to let him deal with it. I tried to interest my sister in coding for us, but she has no interest. She has her job, her church and her family. After that, she looks forward to her vacations. More on her plate would stress her, and she just doesn't see the value of crypto currencies. I've always been the black sheep, always questioning the status quo, why things happened in history, how to prevent them, I've been spending the last few days enthralled with NASA's successful testing of their EM drive in a vacuum. I love science, history, all kinds of crafting, music and arts, and pop back and forth between all these things constantly. Luckily I found a man who does the same thing, so we can tolerate each other. But I'm really weird. I can't even stand a room full of women, so the article made me laugh, thinking THANK GOD for your ratio on that island or else we'd have mass suicides, LOL.

We will have them when this grows and becomes easier to secure and use. Banksters have gotten the upper hand lately. They have Bitcoin now. They undoubtedly have tendrils in MIT who are now paying for bitcoin development. Now they have a cheaper way to transact overseas, and amongst each other. They could win in the end.

So what can we do to win? They now have our technology, but what if people refused to mine for them, or run nodes for them? Then the whole network would have to become centralized with the banking industry doing the mining and running the nodes. We just lost our chance here, and if bitcoiners continue to run this network for the banksters, it'll be quite the irony, don't you think? If there is money to be made, sure, the miners will be there. No doubt. But this is a potential heavy card we hold here. Will the banksters trust each other? They are missing the big picture, as usual.

But there are other things we need to do to make this work. 1st is to make it easy to truely secure personal coins. Transactions with unknown merchants could be done with an escrow system of sorts that would still be way cheaper than any bank. A decentralized exchange is of primary importance IMO. But the biggest hurdle will be to convince people to be responsible for what they do. That is the hardest part. They want the government to take care of them, even so the government will soon be broke, the businesses here will be gone, along with all the jobs, and there will not be anything left for anyone, including the poor. How do we change this mindset? It's our biggest challenge.
 
Why women stay away from bitcoin (Cryptos)
[...]

Not enough good looking coders!

Get George Clooney in and create wallet themes matching the current mobile/shoes/purse and VISA/Mastercard will be history...

George-Clooney.jpg
 
Well on the eternal topic of the diffs. between men and women, IMLE women don't mess with cryptocurrency because they simply aren't as interested in trying to "beat the system" or find a workaround ... they'd rather just be responsible within the system they live within, and enjoy their close ones and relationships. Women are extraordinary and really rather wonderful for stepping into the void so many men create by obsessing over their witchdoctoring and their workarounds...
 
Knowing stuff is just not worth it. Bettering one's intellect for the simple sake of doing it is too much hassle... Education is an investment with no payoff, so why bother? 96% male... Hm... What conclusion is impossible NOT to draw from these facts and statements?

No matter how you doll up the vocabulary; bitches ain't nuthin' but hos and tricks.

Perhaps an effort to self-educate would result in discovering the reasons... Nah, that makes too much sense.

Ever park a cat in front of a TV and try to make it watch a football game with you? Same thing. You have to better yourself FIRST, then you'll understand how it works, and from this learn the why...

Women simply see no reason to bother with that whole learning, self-improvement, make the world a better place by starting with yourself gig, why bother? The thing she uses to pay the bills isn't going anywhere...

It's not just women... There are plenty of men who see no reason to bother learning anything, ever.

Look at the LTC and DOGE market caps... Those idiots are 96% male, right?

The ratio is more of a social analysis. Society encourages women to eschew intellectual development in favor of "I can sell my body to the highest bidder." She is very literally sitting on the ultimate currency, in her mind, and has been taught so since she was old enough to walk. She doesn't have to learn anything to use that. The only paperwork involved in that currency exchange givers her half of someone else's stuff for no reason... Why would she give up all that?

There are few exceptions.

Bottom Line; why would women want to buck the system they've created to their own advantage, and which requires nothing of them but the anatomical? What could ever be better than what they've already created? Rupees, Dollars, Yen, BTC, LTC, DASH; It's all the same when the lights go out. Minimum effort goes to the status quo. Women like having the guv step in and give them tons of someone else's stuff. Money the guv can't do that with? Pshaw, defeats the whole point! Crypto is the antithesis of their interests. Why would women want to do the opposite of what they already have working in their favor so well?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
camosoul if there were a "severe dislike" button, that is what I would press with regard to some of your shared thoughts on women, self-improvement, and money. <<start Sarcasm font>> But I only speak as someone who has a grandmother/mother/wife/daughter/nieces. So what do I know? <<end Sarcasm font>>
 
camosoul if there were a "severe dislike" button, that is what I would press with regard to some of your shared thoughts on women, self-improvement, and money. <<start Sarcasm font>> But I only speak as someone who has a grandmother/mother/wife/daughter/nieces. So what do I know? <<end Sarcasm font>>
You don't have to like it for it to be true. "My view" is irrelevant. Facts matter. This is fact.
 
Back
Top