Top 10 Influential Women in the Crypto Space You Need to Know by Glory Adebajo

With few women in the crypto industry, the industry has long been perceived as male-dominated. This dominance may be due to its origins in the tech and finance sectors, which have also historically been led by men. For instance, a recent study revealed that only 6% of CEOs in the blockchain sector are women, compared to 17% in the broader technology sector. 

However, the tides are gradually shifting, and women are increasingly making their mark in the crypto space. The percentage of women who own crypto has risen significantly, from a mere 18% at the beginning of 2023 to an impressive 29% at the start of 2024. This surge in female participation shows that there is a growing interest and involvement of women in digital assets. 

But aside from those just joining, a few women have made a mark in the industry. These women serve as inspiration and role models for the newcomers.

In this article, we’ll explore the profile of the top 10 influential women in the crypto space you need to know.

Top 10 Influential Women in Crypto  

Caitlin Long (Chairman of WyoHackathon)

Caitlin Long graduated from Harvard Law School and the prestigious Kennedy School of Government. She is a Wall Street veteran turned blockchain advocate who has spent over 22 years in senior finance roles before embracing crypto in 2012. She has formerly worked at Credit Suisse, Salomon Brothers, and Morgan Stanley’s pension solutions business. 

Long first learned about Bitcoin in 2012 through Austrian economics circles. However, she committed herself fully in 2013 after receiving an email with instructions on “how to buy and store Bitcoin.” 

While working on Wall Street, Long saw a weakness in the established financial system she thought blockchain might address. This sparked her desire for “honest ledgers” and her goal to issue and trade securities on a blockchain to level the playing field in the financial markets. Until 2018, Long served as the president and chair of the blockchain firm Symbiont. She became the co-founder of the Wyoming Blockchain Coalition in 2017. 

Source: Cipher Mining

Also, Long served as a governor’s appointee on the state’s Blockchain Task Force from 2018 to 2019, during which time the group passed 13 blockchain-enabling laws that turned Wyoming into a cryptocurrency hub

In 2018 and 2019, she headed the charity WyoHackathon blockchain hackathon. In 2020, she established Avanti Financial Group, the country’s first cryptocurrency-native bank, and became CEO. 

Long has received numerous recognitions for her services to the cryptocurrency industry. Among them are:

• Long’s Institutional Investor list of the 40 most powerful individuals in the pension industry: 2015, 2014, and 2013; 
• Inc.’s selection of the ten corporate leaders changing the world via technology in 2016;
• MarketsMedia Women in Finance Award for Excellence in Blockchain 2016; and others. 

Kathryn Haun (Founder and CEO of Haun Ventures)

Source: Yahoo.finance

Kathryn Haun is one of the most prominent and influential investors in the crypto and web3 space. After spending over a decade as a federal prosecutor going after corrupt organizations like the Silk Road dark web marketplace, Haun made the leap into crypto investment in 2018.

She began as the first female general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, where she led crypto investments into major projects like Coinbase, OpenSea, Dapper Labs, and Avalanche. Haun quickly earned a reputation as one of the smartest money managers in the crypto VC space.

In 2022, Haun founded her own crypto-focused fund, Haun Ventures, which raised over $1.5 billion to back founders and projects in web3, NFTs, DAOs, DeFi, and more. Her expertise from both the regulatory side as a prosecutor and as an early backer of crypto winners gave Haun a unique edge.

Beyond investments, Haun has become an influential voice in educating the public on the regulatory scope of crypto and web3. She testified before Congress on the merits and risks of blockchain technology. 

Overall, Kathryn Haun has one foot in traditional finance and the other in the decentralized future. Haun is helping forge the path for crypto’s mainstream integration and adoption.

Elizabeth Stark (Co-founder and CEO of Lightning Labs)   

Source: LinkedIn

Elizabeth Stark is a blockchain​ entrepreneur who co-founded Lightning Labs in 2016. The company developed the Lightning Network, a layer-two product that introduces off-chain transactions to solve the Bitcoin blockchain’s slow and high-cost transactions. 

Stark is the CEO and co-founder of Lightning Labs. She holds a BA from Brown and a JD from Harvard Law, where she edited the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology. She has also taught at Stanford and Yale on topics like peer-to-peer tech, privacy, and open-source software.

Stark’s vision took a major step forward in March 2018 with the Lightning Network’s public beta release, and it has since progressed. In January 2023, the Lightning Network’s total capacity surpassed 5,490 BTC. Currently, a Lightning Bitcoin costs $0.28565 and has a market valuation of over $128 million.

In addition to her commitment to Lightning Lab, Stark advises multiple Bitcoin businesses and initiatives, including as a fellow at Coin Center. She has held fellowships at Yale’s Information Society Project and was an entrepreneur-in-residence at Stanford StartX. 

Blythe Masters (Former CEO of Digital Asset Holdings)

Source: LinkedIn

Blythe Masters is a former JPMorgan executive who became CEO of Digital Asset Holdings, a blockchain startup. Her work focused on developing distributed ledger technology for financial services firms. Masters brought credibility to blockchain from traditional finance. 

She was born on March 22, 1969, in Oxford, United Kingdom, and graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge with a B.A. in Economics. Masters’ professional career began at JPMorgan Chase in 1991, where she was instrumental in developing the credit default swap as a financial instrument. At the age of 28, she became a managing director, the youngest woman to achieve that status in the firm’s history. 

In March 2015, Masters became the CEO of Digital Asset Holdings. However, she stepped down from her CEO position in December 2018 for personal reasons but remained involved with the company as a board member, strategic advisor, and shareholder.

Blythe Masters is also a founding partner of FinTech private equity firm Motive Partners and serves on several advisory boards and boards of directors. She also has served on the Advisory Board of the US Chamber of Digital Commerce. 

Galia Benartzi (Co-founder of Bancor Protocol)

Source: Forbes

Galia Benartzi co-founded Bancor Protocol— the world’s first open-source protocol that ensures on-chain liquidity between any blockchain-based asset. Her blockchain project enables automated token conversions directly through user wallets. It introduced the concept of the Automated Market Maker (AMM), which has become a fundamental component of Decentralized Finance (DeFi).

Before her involvement with Bancor, she co-founded Mytopia, the first social gaming company for smartphones, which was later acquired by 888. She also co-founded Particle Code, a cross-platform development technology for mobile applications, which was acquired by Appcelerator. Her entrepreneurial spirit led her to become a Venture Partner at Peter Thiel’s Founder’s Fund. 

Galia Benartzi’s work with Bancor has processed over $2 billion in token conversions. They have impacted organizations and individuals globally, from blockchain teams to communities issuing local currencies. She has been featured on BloombergTV and CNBC.

Joyce Kim (Co-founder and Executive Director of Stellar.org)

Source: Koreaherald

Joyce Kim co-founded the Stellar Development Foundation, a nonprofit driving the Stellar blockchain’s growth. Through its decentralized protocol, Stellar aims to expand financial access globally. She guides Stellar’s mission to create more financial inclusivity.

Kim’s work with Stellar.org has been groundbreaking, particularly in its ability to handle up to 6 million transactions for just 20 cents. 

Before her involvement with Stellar.org, Joyce Kim was a venture capitalist and an attorney. Her background contributed to her understanding of cryptocurrency’s technological and regulatory aspects. She has been a vocal advocate for open financial access and has spoken about the importance of connecting siloed financial systems through open-source networks.

Under her leadership, Stellar.org has seen significant growth and impact. Since its inception in July 2014, the platform has facilitated millions of accounts.

Meltem Demirors (Chief Strategy Officer of CoinShares)   

Source: LinkedIn

Meltem Demirors is the Chief Strategy Officer at CoinShares, a crypto asset management firm. Her career in the cryptocurrency industry is a result of her substantial contributions to the growth and acceptance of digital assets.

Before her tenure at CoinShares, Demirors was part of the founding team at Digital Currency Group, where she played a key role in investing in over 250 companies within the digital asset ecosystem. 

Demirors is also an active angel investor and is in the process of building her third investment firm. She is involved in crypto education and advocacy efforts, which focus on civil liberties, consumer privacy, and freedom of speech. 

In addition to her professional achievements, Demirors has been a vocal advocate for the digital asset community, providing testimony at hearings on cryptocurrency and its impact on consumers, investors, and the American financial system. 

Amber Baldet (Blockchain and Financial Services Expert)

Source: The New York Times

Amber Baldet is an expert in blockchain and financial services. She is best known for her role at JPMorgan Chase, where she led the Blockchain Center of Excellence and was instrumental in developing Quorum, one of the most significant corporate blockchain projects.

After her successful tenure at JPMorgan, Baldet co-founded Clovyr, a startup that offers a suite of tools for blockchain applications and services. Baldet’s vision for Clovyr is to bridge the gap between the traditional finance sector and the emerging blockchain ecosystem, making it easier for enterprises to adopt blockchain technology while addressing their concerns about privacy and security. 

Moreover, Baldet is a prominent speaker and advocate for privacy and decentralization. She has shared her insights at various prestigious events, including SXSW, the MIT Media Lab, and the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. Overall, she has contributed to the broader conversation on the future of blockchain and financial services.

Gracy Chen (Managing Director of Bitget)  

Source: Bitget

Gracy Chen is the driving force behind the meteoric rise of Bitget, one of the world’s leading crypto copy trading platforms. She graduated from the National University of Singapore and is pursuing an MBA at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

 As Managing Director, Chen has spearheaded Bitget’s rapid expansion to over 2 million users across more than 50 countries and regions. Under her leadership, Bitget emerged as a premier gateway for users worldwide to tap into the Web3 economy. The platform’s innovations, like copy trading, which allows beginners to replicate crypto experts’ trades, have lowered entry barriers.

Chen is a vocal advocate for crypto education to allow mass adoption. She has harnessed Bitget’s growth to promote financial literacy initiatives like the Bitget Crypto Alliance Program. This global network empowers opinion leaders to share crypto knowledge with millions.

Beyond Bitget’s platforms, Chen has cultivated partnerships with major sports franchises and stars to introduce crypto to new mainstream audiences. Her work bridges the gap between the blockchain world and popular culture on a global scale. In 2015, the World Economic Forum named Chen a Global Shaper. 

Kathleen Breitman (Co-founder of Tezos)

Source: X

Kathleen Breitman is the co-founder of Tezos, one of the earliest and most ambitious blockchain projects. The project aims to create a revolutionary smart contract and decentralized application platform. Breitman and her husband Arthur launched Tezos in 2014 after raising a record $232 million through an initial coin offering (ICO).

What makes Tezos unique is the innovative proof-of-stake consensus mechanism that incentivizes stakeholders to participate in the validation and governance of the network itself. Breitman was instrumental in designing Tezos’ formal verification process to increase the security of its smart contracts.

Her work establishing Tezos as a self-amending cryptographic ledger empowered its community to seamlessly implement protocol upgrades without relying on hard forks. This dynamic governance model gives Tezos a major advantage in driving institutional blockchain adoption across enterprises, banks, and governments seeking reliable smart contract execution.

Overall, Tezos has become one of the most consistently developed and actively secured distributed ledgers.

Women in Crypto: You Can Be the Next! 

Several women have contributed to crypto’s growth and society’s adoption of this technology. These people are smashing glass ceilings and paving the way for others, particularly women, to come in. While more women are still joining, you could also be the next Kathryn Haun or even Caitlin Long. All it takes is a bold step of faith, a solid investment strategy and the right platform.

At Zypto, we understand the great potential of blockchain technology, and we aim to make using crypto simple and intuitive for both men and women in crypto by providing products to make your onboarding journey smooth and easy. These include the Zypto App, virtual and physical crypto cards, a crypto payment gateway, and, most interestingly, the Zypto native token!

You can also check our blog for more resources on cryptocurrencies, NFTs, Web3, altcoins, and blockchain technology. Join the #ZyptoCrew, and let’s make your trading journey easy and smooth.

Who is your favorite among the top 10 women in crypto, and why? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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