- Bitcoin 2024 kicks off as Donald Trump brings national attention to the event.
- It's a very male affair — only about 13% of its speakers are female-presenting.
Bitcoin 2024 is one of crypto’s largest conferences.
And this year will be a bonanza as former President Donald Trump and a slew of other high-profile speakers flock to Nashville, Tennessee.
Crypto will, again, be in the national spotlight — and so will the industry’s struggles with gender representation.
Only about 13% of Bitcoin 2024′s speakers are female-presenting, according to data compiled by DL News.
That’s less than five years ago, when about 17% of the listed speakers were identifiably female.
Women are generally underrepresented in tech and finance.
One study found that, from 2016 to 2018, they made up 25% of keynote or standalone speakers at tech conferences globally.
Another survey of conferences from a range of industries found that male speakers still outnumber female speakers two to one.
Crypto is also a notoriously unequal industry, even by the standards of other male-dominated industries.
The 17 wealthiest crypto billionaires are all men, according to Forbes.
And a recent report from the Association of Women in Cryptocurrency, a nonprofit that advocates for women in web3, highlights the gender disparity in the industry.
In late 2023, the organisation surveyed approximately 400 women in crypto and found that 82% of respondents believe the industry is not free from harassment.
“The lack of women speakers at crypto conferences is nothing new,” Amanda Wick, founder of the Association of Women in Cryptocurrency, told DL News.
She said this is why her nonprofit has asked men to pledge to not speak on all-male panels. Bans on so-called “manels” are standard in finance and other industries.
“We need conferences, especially those lacking women speakers, to also pledge if this industry is serious about seeing meaningful and impactful change,” she added.
Worse than Consensus
DL News categorised each speaker publicly listed on the Bitcoin conference’s website as either female or male, based on speakers’ names, profile pictures, and the pronouns used in their bios.
For those with pseudonymous names and pictures, DL News looked at bios, podcasts, and other media to categorise the speaker.
While it’s no perfect science — speakers can identify as non-binary, for example — the tally illustrates the Bitcoin conference’s gender disparity.
In 2019, out of the 90 listed speakers, only 15 were identifiably women — about 17%.
The share of speakers who were women dipped in the years afterward, floating between 13% and 16%.
In 2024, there are more male speakers whose first names begin with an “A” or “B” than the total number of female speakers at the conference, based on a version of the conference’s website accessed on July 24.
Women’s share of the spotlight at the Bitcoin conference pales in comparison to Consensus, another leading crypto conference.
About 26% of Consensus’ speakers were identifiably women in 2024, according to data DL News compiled.
David Bailey, head of Bitcoin Magazine, Bitcoin 2024′s organiser, did not respond to requests for comment.
Representatives for Consensus also did not respond to a request for comment.
Allegations against headliners
Molly White, a prominent critic of the industry, also pointed out on X that three of Bitcoin 2024′s seven headliners are accused of serious sexual misconduct.
Trump, who is running for re-election, was found liable for sexual abuse against columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996.
Carroll is one of at least 26 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct since the 1970s.
Trump has denied the allegations.
Russell Brand is also scheduled to speak.
A former UK radio personality, comedian, and actor, he has more recently become a conspiracy-minded podcast host.
Last year, Brand was questioned by London police related to allegations of sexual assault and abuse following an investigation from The Times.
Brand has denied the allegations.
three sexual assaulters out of a lineup of seven headliners is really something
— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) July 23, 2024
Independent presidential candidate and vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr is also scheduled to speak.
He allegedly assaulted his children’s babysitter in the 1990s, according to a Vanity Fair report.
Kennedy later described the story as “a lot of garbage,” declined to comment on it further, and privately apologised to Eliza Cooney, the babysitter reported The Washington Post.
Bitcoin 2024, however, has thought about gender inclusion.
On Thursday morning, according to the conference’s agenda, it’s hosting what it called a “Women’s Brunch.”
Ben Weiss is DL News’ Dubai-based correspondent. Reach out to him at bweiss@dlnews.com. Joanna Wright is DL News’ regulatory correspondent. Contact her at joanna@dlnews.com.