Blockchain is best suited for driving social change towards diversity: here’s why

Silicon Valley, the original cradle of global innovation, has always praised itself for being a place where talent and hard work are all that matters. It comes with no surprise though that historically it’s mostly applied to a select group of wealthy and well-connected men. So far, the Blockchain industry has a reputation of being especially male-dominated and lacking diversity, even within the repelling tech bro-culture. However, there are more than enough reasons to remain hopeful that crypto will use its potential to bring positive social impact, if only we intentionally design it in an ethical way.

Blockchain is first and foremost a community-driven movement enabled by decentralized technology innovation. Access, collaboration, transactional transparency, user anonymity and knowledge-based social proof are at its core. All of these characteristics are extremely beneficial for women and minority users willing to find a safe digital outlet and an online community that values them for what they have to say rather than how they look. Even though Blockchain is still a 1% conversation, for now, the early stage timing is advantageous for leaders with diversity willing to join the community and lead by example.

Bitcoin’s 2017 leap from $900 to $20,000 brought the once-obscure technology to everyone’s attention. Now, it’s up to us – the crypto community – to prepare Blockchain for mainstream adoption and ensure that it brings positive and sustainable social change in the long run, through inclusion.

We’ve asked Daria Gonzalez, founder of crypto-focused branding agency Wunderdogs to share her opinion. Wunderdogs is an interesting case on the crypto market: while not being a blockchain company themselves, Wunderdogs helped dozens of blockchain companies translate their complex technologies into clear narratives, bringing them early adopters, equity funding and (back in the day), ICO money.

The Need for Diversity

“When we first started in 2017, crypto was on the rise and we received an incredible number of Blockchain clients. We learned to understand the technology, invested in it our time and money, and gained technical knowledge and our own perspective on the industry and its future. You have to know what’s going on at all times to be a reliable partner and community member, – says Gonzalez – but the industry desperately needs more diverse players – in terms of race, gender, skill sets – without diversity, it will never achieve its full potential. It’s a great opportunity – not without a steep learning curve, but it’s all worth it.”

Wunderdogs started in 2017 with only two co-founders, and in a little over a year, the company served 30+ clients, processed 70+ deals, helped its early stage clients raise a total of $143M* and grew from 2 to 16 team members and numerous collaborators. Partnering with Element Group (now, The Actual Group), Wunderdogs worked on a number of outstanding clients, such as WAX, BlockV, EverID, Vault, Keyband, Ether Cyrcus, Shivom and others.

A Stanford GSB grad having left an early stage investor seat to launch a branding agency and now working with crypto, Daria shared thoughts on her transition: “Joining the Blockchain movement, even in its peak hype, changed our business. It has so much potential, and it feels so real and empowering that we are actually shaping it, now, together. It’s a clean slate. There’s a place for everyone to join, contribute, and matter – independently of who you are and what initial skill set you have.”

“For Wunderdogs, it is about executing our talent of taking deep, complex technical concepts and boiling them down into clean, relatable and ‘human-focused’ narratives. I believe in the power of a strong brand to bring the future into the present. We’ve always been focused on emerging, often misunderstood technologies because we believe that by translating their innovative products and services into the language of humankind, we can bring a better future to the world.”

The Value of Diversity

For the blockchain industry to advance in its efforts and turn truly mainstream, diversity can be of immense value. The math here is simple: the more perspectives that are taken into account, the better the ecosystem design is. Especially at its formative stage, Blockchain tech needs more diverse opinions in order to build a better world than Silicon Valley did.  

“It’s not only the scaling challenge that has to be solved for Blockchain to obtain widespread adoption. According to Bloomberg, 80% of purchasing decisions in the world are made by women. Blockchain won’t go anywhere without us – its adoption depends on securing a strong presence among women and minorities around the globe. Without diversity Blockchain has no future,” – adds Gonzalez.

Read more about diversity in tech here:

https://irishtechnews.ie/diversity-is-one-of-the-most-important-secret-sauces-kristin-boggiano-blockchain-innovator-alphapoint-and-wind-founder/

https://irishtechnews.ie/nearly-half-of-women-in-tech-say-their-company-is-still-not-prioritising-diversity-reveals-research-by-booking-com/

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