Italian women are the most crypto curious

While traditional finance has high entry barriers, the crypto world is bringing new opportunities for a wider range of investor profiles, including women.

Indeed, we noticed an increasing interest in digital assets from women, and this article will provide some explanations to this phenomenon.

43% of Italian crypto owners are women

A recent study from Triple-A showed that women represent a third of the total cryptocurrency owners.

In some European countries, this percentage increases even more with the level of education and awareness of the sector, Italy being the first on the list with 43%, followed by the UK with 40% of female crypto owners, France with 30% and Germany 26%.

In Italy, cryptocurrencies are the second preferred investment after bank placements, such as saving accounts.

Regarding the people who do not own crypto yet but are planning to invest in it in the near future, nearly 50% of them were women, demonstrating a growing interest in digital assets and suggesting that the overall number of female crypto users will keep on increasing in the upcoming months.

The choice of investing in cryptocurrencies instead of traditional finance is explained by several factors, such as the easy access to crypto, the wide range of tools available for different types of investor profiles and the increasing number of women-led organizations in the sector.

Lower entry barriers to crypto investments

The gender pay gap is unfortunately still noticeable in most countries and is impacting investment habits between men and women. In the EU, women earn on average 13% less per hour than men. Fortunately, Italy ranks among the top 5 EU countries with the lowest wages difference, earning 4% less on average.

But even though the pay gap is slowly decreasing in certain countries, women still tend to have less money available for investments, which makes it more difficult for them to access certain types of investments, especially the ones requiring a high initial financing, as is the case in many traditional financial assets.

Cryptocurrencies help close this gap, as one can start with a very low investment and benefit from higher returns in a shorter period of time.

Maybe this is why crypto is now the second most asset class for young women aged 18-34, second only to cash. To create this research, a survey of around 10,000 global retail investors in 13 countries was conducted. Those data also show that women’s presence increased from 29% in the third quarter of 2022 to 34%.

Cautious investment habits

Several studies have been made to analyze the investment habits of men and women. Overall, what came out is that women tend to be more cautious, avoiding risky investments. Their strategy tends to be more stable and provide higher returns in the long-term.

Even if crypto is often perceived as risky due to its high volatility, it also offers many opportunities for passive income, at lower risk, which provides a good starting ground for beginners or risk-averse people. Staking is one example. It works in a similar way as a savings account, enabling investors to place their money and perceive a fee after a certain period of time.

Blockchain as the sector claiming highest levels of gender diversity

While crypto remains a sector dominated by men, the number of women involved in blockchain has grown exponentially in the last few years. From 3% in 2016, they now represent about 12% of the market.

A few women-centric organizations such as Blockchain Ladies, founded by Caterina Ferrara, are aiming to help women get started in the crypto world by providing education and by building a strong community of crypto-curious women around the world.

Some noticeable women-leaders are also making a difference in the sector. Gracy Chen, Managing Director of Bitget, was one of the first investors of BitKeep, Bitget’s sister company, and Asia’s leading decentralized wallet, and is now helping Bitget reach its objectives of global expansion.

Bitget is very supportive to women leadership and provides equal opportunity, counting over 40% of women in their management board.

Gracy Chen commented:

“Although we have reached such progress in increasing gender diversity, women still face numerous challenges in their careers. There are exhaustive statistics on this matter. But the situation is changing and we cannot complain or ask for indulgence or special conditions. I think that the blockchain industry is one of those sectors where gender, ethnic and age diversity have reached their highest levels.”