Women Watchlist: Crypto & Blockchain Edition Celebrating International Women's Day

March 8, 2021 Paul Kontonis

Jordana Cohen, Associate at Alpha Sigma Capital

International Women's Day is a day to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of women in all different industries worldwide. Today, I would like to highlight the amazing women influencing the crypto and blockchain space.

Men have long dominated the finance industry, but does crypto and blockchain offer a new outlet for women to take control and influence? As crypto and blockchain continues to gain a mass adoption appeal, more women are entering the space and becoming powerhouses. Below is a list of accomplished women in the industry to be on the look-out for as crypto and blockchain continues to expand:

Elizabeth Stark

About: Ms. Stark is the CEO and cofounder of Lightning Labs, a company that develops software, powering the Lightning Network. Lightning Labs enables its users to send and receive money efficiently through fast, scalable blockchain transactions.The company aims to “bridge the world of open source software and the next-generation of bitcoin financial software.” Elizabeth Stark previously taught and lectured at Stanford and Yale University, and holds a J.D. from Harvard herself. Currently, she is an advisor at Chia, which is a company that is building a new blockchain protocol, and she is a fellow at Coin Center, which is a cryptocurrency policy organization. She is an advocate for an open internet and advancing scaling solutions for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/starkness

Laura Shin

About: Ms. Shin is the current host of blockchain and cryptocurrency podcast, Unchained. Aside from being the host of her podcast, she is also known for her journalism. In 2016, she received the Blockchain Award for Most Insightful Journalist. Additionally, she is the co-lead reporter on the Forbes Fintech 50 list.

Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/laurashin

Perianne Boring

About: Ms. Boring is the founder and president of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, which is the world’s largest trade association that promotes the blockchain industry. She is an advocate for mass adoption, acceptance, and the education of digital assets and blockchain backed technology. Perianne Boring holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of Florida in business administration and economics, and is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. In 2016, she was named 10 Most Influential People in Blockchain by Coindesk and America’s Top 50 Women in Tech by Forbes.

Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/PerianneDC

Rachel Wolfson

About: Ms. Wolfson has recently been named one of the top 5 women working to change the world of crypto by The Next Web. She is an editorial professional and specializes in covering blockchain technology and cryptocurrency relevant news. She is a contributing journalist for Forbes Crypto and also is the host of a podcast called “The Crypto Chicks.” She is an advocate and a leading voice for women in the blockchain space.

Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/Rachelwolf00

Caitlin Long

About: Ms. Long is the founder and CEO of Avanti Bank & Trust, which is a Wyoming bank formed to help bridge digital assets and the U.S. dollar payments system. Before entering the crypto and blockchain space, she worked on Wall Street. In 2018, and currently, she led and continues to lead the change, making Wyoming an “oasis” for blockchain based US companies and enacting 20 blockchain-enabling laws. She has a JD from Harvard Law and a BA from the University of Wyoming.

Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_

Sheila Warren

About: Ms. Warren is a Wall Street attorney veteran who attended Harvard for both undergrad and her JD. Currently, she is the Head of Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology at the World Economic Forum. Her position on the Executive Committee includes overseeing strategy across the C4IR Network across 13 counties. Ms. Warren works with a plethora of governments, people at top companies, and stakeholders in an effort to further the mass adoption of technologies in the global public interest sector. She is highly knowledgeable and skilled at integrating tech, law, policy, and philanthropy.

Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/sheila_warren

Sally Eaves

About: Sally Eaves is an international advocate for the mass adoption and integration of blockchain technology and open access to opportunity. She has founded Aspirational Futures in an effort to help empower and support the next generation. She is a renowned author and keynote speaker who communicates the benefits of blockchain and disruptive technology and how it can make a social impact. In the past, she has served ample senior positions at leading tech companies. Currently, she is a member of the Forbes Technology Council, which is “an invitation only organization for senior executives.” She has been awarded the Decade of Women’s FrontierWomen50 and was a candidate for the UK IT Woman of the Year Business Role Model Award. Additionally, she has been ranked 8th in the World in Blockchain impact and is ranked in the top 10 for digital disruption and across frontier technology subjects.

Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/sallyeaves

Kathleen Breitman

About: Ms. Breitman is the CEO of Dynamic Solutions, which is a company that created the first version of Tezos. Tezos is a decentralized, open-source blockchain-based smart contract network or platform that can execute peer-to-peer transactions.

Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/breitwoman?lang=en

Galia Benartzi

About: Ms. Benartzi is a tech and serial entrepreneur. In 2005, she co-founded Mytopia, which is the first social gaming company for smartphones. In 2010, she co-founded Particle Code, which is a cross-platform development technology for mobile applications. Most recently, she is the founder of the Bancor Network. Bancor is a standard for the creation of “Smart Tokens, cryptocurrencies with built-in convertibility directly through their smart contracts. Smart Tokens interconnect to form automated token liquidity networks, allowing user-generated currencies to thrive.” Ms. Benartzi is from California, but she currently resides in Tel Aviv. She is an advocate for decentralized technologies and women empowerment.

Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/galiabenartzi

Meltem Demirors

About: Ms. Demirors is the Chief Strategy Officer of CoinShares. CoinShares is a digital asset investment firm that helps its global clients navigate the digital asset ecosystem. Prior to joining CoinShare, she helped to develop and expand the Digital Currency Group, by raising substantial capital and managing the portfolio of 120 companies and 4 subsidiaries. Ms. Demirors is an advocate for the wide-spread mass adoption of crypto and continues to influence the growth and acceptance of the asset class. She is a founding member and co-chair of the World Economic Forum Cryptocurrency Council.

Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/Melt_Dem

Chrissa McFarlane

About: Ms. McFarlane is named one of the top women “leaving their mark on the medtech field” by Becker’s Hospital Review. She is the CEO of Patientory, which is a global currency and population health management service that regulates and secures patient data and is revolutionizing the way doctors and patients interact and gain access to information. She is an entrepreneur with a passion for improving the healthcare industry through blockchain technology and digitalization. In the past, she served as co-chair of the HIMSS18 Blockchain Workgroup and is part of the HIMSS Interoperability and Health Information Exchange Committee.

Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/ChrissaTanelia

About the Author: Jordana Cohen graduated magna cum laude from Tulane University with a business major in finance and a minor in Spanish. She is a current associate for Alpha Sigma Capital, a US-based multi-strategy blockchain and crypto fund focused on top blockchain projects and the alt-coins that support them.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanacohen286/

Sources:

https://lightning.engineering/

https://www.crunchbase.com/person/elizabeth-stark

https://www.zdnet.com/meet-the-team/us/lshin/#:~:text=Laura%20Shin%20is%20a%20business,the%20Forbes%20Fintech%2050%20list.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/perianne-boring-43363991/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachwolf/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlin-long-/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/avantibank/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheilawarren/

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/authors/sheila-warren

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-eaves/?originalSubdomain=uk