Empowering Women in Blockchain: KuCoin Celebrates International Women's Day with Industry Leaders
In a vibrant celebration of International Women's Day, KuCoin hosted an empowering Twitter Space event, spotlighting the extraordinary accomplishments of women in the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector. This enlightening session, themed around empowerment, growth, and influence within the digital currency realm, featured esteemed guests including Kristina Corner, Editor-at-large at Cointelegraph, Sasha, Marketing and Community Lead at 1inch, and Adelina, Head Of Communications at World of Women, with KuCoin Managing Director Alicia Kao moderating the discussion.
Each guest delved into the dynamic role of women in Web 3.0, sharing pivotal insights and experiences to illustrate how women can not only navigate but truly excel and leave their mark in the evolving landscape of blockchain and crypto industries. The event served as a powerful platform for inspiration, networking, and fostering a supportive community, underlining the critical importance of female participation and leadership in shaping the future of technology. Please see the recap of the event below.
Alicia: Thank you everyone for tuning in! In celebration of Women’s Day, we have a very special panel discussion with leading women in web3, including Kristina, the editor-at-large of Cointelegraph, Sasha, the Marketing and Community Lead at 1inch Network, and Adelina, the Head of Communications at World of Women NFT.
We look forward to discussing each guest’s experiences building in Web3, their current outlook on the industry, and how to overcome barriers in the web3 ecosystem and gain mass adoption.
First and foremost, can each of you give an introduction to yourselves, how you got into Web3, and give an overview of your project or company? We’ll start with Kristina.
Kristina: Thank you, everyone, really happy to be with you here, celebrating spring we are entering the boom market, the beginning of the boom market. It's a good beginning of spring for everyone here.
I'm Kristina and I have been in the blockchain space for the last seven years and it's been a revelatory experience for me. I’ve also been in the traditional industry before. When I joined the space, it wasn’t called Web3 yet, 7 years ago, it was just a community. I think the biggest impression that fascinated me was that it's so open and accessible in terms of who you talk to, who you meet for, and which ideas you can discuss with them. Because working in traditional industries, you always have to get through all these protocols, it's more about following the rules and how you get to a certain person before you get to talk to them.
While Web3 is full of founders, people who are building it, and people who are passionate about the space, and basically since the beginning of our venture 10 years ago, it's always an opportunity to be inside the community and talk to everyone. I have been leading editorial for a few years and it's been an incredible opportunity to meet so many great people inside and outside the team.
Sasha: Hi, I just want to share my short story. I started crypto in 2016 and it was a long journey. I agree with Kristine, there wasn't a web3 world at all, it was just a community.
I’m a lucky member of the 1inch Network. Short story about how 1inch was created, it was created during the Hackathon, the idea was to use the aggregation protocol which provides the best Defi space and we still keep this leading position in the market.
What we also want to do right now is to increase the number of developments in DeFi and with other partners in DeFi and the Web3 community, to increase the growth of DeFi. That’s why we also introduced the 1inch development portal, where anyone who wants to build in DeFi can use the solutions that we already built and we also built the 1inch wallet.
Adelina: Thank you for having us, very happy to be here. I am the head of communication for World of Women, which started as an art collection, some of you know PFP(Profile Picture Collection) so it was initially a PFP collection. At that time there wasn’t anything that would appeal to women, but there's more diversity now. This became the project, and became a global movement for inclusion, in the next generation of technology.
Nowadays, this launched almost three years ago, you can think of it as a modern lifestyle club for trailblazing women. People will buy World of Women Galaxy Collections to own iconic art and also to become members of an inspiring global community with digital and real-life connections. I can explain more later on, but that’s the idea. We’re mission-driven and we have a beautiful community with us.
Alicia: As the editor-at-large at Cointelegraph, Kristina I believe you must have exposure to a lot more different verticals within Web3. In your opinion, what is the current state of web3 and the opportunities for developers and entrepreneurs?
Kristina: Thank you for the question. The status in which we live in Web3 is an innocent one, we are still working in emerging industries and it brings forth great opportunities and risks. But this is what makes it exciting, there are a lot of amazing people who got to Web3 because they have big ideas, and as I mentioned before, bureaucracy is something that doesn’t inspire innovation at all. The new generation needs to move fast and bring ideas as soon as possible to customers and audiences.
I think the Web3 community, both from the developer and those who work in the industries, there are so many amazing professions, it doesn't have to be developers to join the space. I think there is nothing else like Web3, a community that can solve the questions of all times. There is diversity, I mean we just talked about women and there are sustainability, climate change, and a lot of big challenges. I think the only way to solve them is to use different thinking, going outside of the box, and thinking in a completely different manner.
We still have so much to do, but there are so many amazing stories that inspired me to see that a lot of things are possible. Thanks to technology and the people who are building this technology.
Just one example. Recently, I saw a person, part of an inclusive rugby team I am working with. We have a group of people with different disabilities, both mental and physical, and they are playing rugby with us. One of the guys is incredibly passionate about technology and he showed me, that thanks to AI, the community, and the opportunity to use social media, he has created his video blog on YouTube. He is distributing it through different channels, he, in real life cannot even talk properly, but he uses ChatGPT to create text, and then he uses another program to move his picture and make him “talk”. Then uses an AI for voice generation to read the text.
This is something, for me, that is revelatory. Technology can help people without a certain ability and overcome barriers. This is what the Web3 community is about. Empowering and giving opportunities around the world in a decentralized manner, that creates new solutions to the old challenges.
Alicia: People always focus on money during the boom market, but I am glad that this industry is gathering different people with different perspectives. As you said, AI can help professors, students, and other industries. So Sasha, Could you share your thoughts on the importance of community in the growth and adoption of platforms like 1inch? How does 1inch engage with its community to drive innovation and trust within the DeFi ecosystem?
Sasha: Great question! Small story, as I mentioned, 1inch was built during the Hackathon. Our co-founder developed perfect solutions and they shared their solutions with the community. The community started sharing the link and everyone is using this solution. I think 1inch is a completely community-driven project because this is how we started building our network. That’s why we still think community is important. Before we release something important, we use the community and their feedback.
We also get feedback from developers on how we can improve the solution. We released our 1inch portfolio and this project is a team that came and showed their proposal on the 1inch product.
Another example is the 1inch hardware wallet. Some guys thought it was useful for 1inch DeFi and the community itself to develop a wallet. They proposed and we created this project. That's why we think innovation and development is very important.
Apart from that, we like our community because they all have a great sense of humor. It is important to have people who understand what we are doing, are having fun with it, and are good at sharing our projects.
Alicia: That was lovely. The next question is for Adelina, I’d like to get your thoughts on the importance of community at World of Women as well. How does an NFT project like World of Women establish and maintain a vibrant community?
Adelina: I will start with establishing the community. As I was saying, World of Women is mission-driven. When our founder started everything, she launched projects because she wanted to get herself a PFP, she didn’t feel like she was represented. She was already a digital artist at that time, selling her digital NFTs and that's where the idea came from. She found lots of people who resonated with her ideas, the project was a success, and we attracted a lot of people.
After that, we worked a lot closely with our community, it has always been the center of what we are doing. Lately, we have been releasing a new product called patio. We communicate a lot with our community to figure out where we want our project to go and to see if it is something they resonate with.
We also shifted a little, we see ourselves as a membership club where we share core values. We notice that when people meet others, magic happens, both digitally and in person. Recently, we had our Gala, it was a massive success. We got great feedback from the Gala and some small events, people loved them equally because they got to connect, talk to each other, and make meaningful connections that bring them value in life.
Alicia: Hackathons have become a staple in blockchain communities for fostering innovation and discovering new talents. Ssha could you discuss the significance of hackathons for 1inch and how they contribute to the platform's development and the DeFi space?
Sasha: Of course! First, I love participating in Hackathons because it's an amazing place where you can learn about the industry and also receive feedback on products. When it comes to 1 inch, it was developed in a Hackathon in New York, in 2019. It is very motivating because you are attending the space, everyone can build something and become something in the Web space.
We did an internal Hackathon when we had our upgrade on the protocol. Our co-founder invited everyone to Dubai for almost a month, during the whole month, our developer, smart contract team, and almost everyone has been working 24/7 on this solution and we released it that month.
We were just talking about International Women’s Day today. As we can see, at least in the last year and a half, a lot of women have been participating in the Hackathon and how it shaped the Hackathon.
Alicia: Seems like Adelina also does a lot of in-person events, galas, and interactive experiences. How have these helped further the World of Women mission and what advice would you give other communities aiming to do similar things?
Adelina: We want to grow the whole Web3 community, and bring in more minorities and women. Side events are really good because they provide an opportunity for people to connect and lift each other. You never know what will happen. It also creates a smaller circle.
We also created events where we spotlighted artists, and shared our values. Just like I said, digitally connecting is amazing but connecting with people afterward is the true glue that sticks everything together, creating unforgettable memories and connections.
As for the tips, we are organizing events ourselves but we also encourage community-led events. So we give out grants, help the community with documentation, and provide them with information about how to organize events. One tip is to take some people to record content and stay in touch with people, and exchange contacts so you have lasting connections. I recommend people do that because it adds value to what you're doing.
Sasha: I agree that pirates are the best way to build a connection with your community and partners. That's what we are also doing.
Alicia: How do you see the future of web3 and how to stay ahead of the curve in this rapidly evolving ecosystem?
Sasha: The brightest future of Web3 is to have more than 5% of the world’s population use DeFi. This is also my passion, I want more people to use DeFi, to see more utilities for the blockchain and DeFi implementations. I want to see more institutions that are using this beautiful technology to improve their productivity or effectiveness.
I want to see a more decentralized approach in our lives, where we don't need third parties and can trust others. This is something dreamy and I call myself a DeFi Anarchist. I am already living this life, and want to share my experience with others. People are open-minded and intelligent and they want to build something, to bring value. People in the DeFi and Web3 world are all about bringing value. My dream Web3 world is full of passionate people who work together to change the world.
Adelina: Changing the world, I resonate with that. I am with you in onboarding more people. I am hoping that we onboard more women, especially into the Web3 world. My tip is to be online, be on social media, and follow key opinion leaders on X (Twitter) and other small groups. Do your research and always stay safe. Be Careful of who you’re interacting with.
Kristina: I agree with everything. Web3 is a very exciting space. As I mentioned before, new technology brings opportunities and challenges. I think it is very important to be true to ourselves and to not just follow the crowd, but try to understand what is making your life better from the Web3 spectrum. Because space is so new, we cannot imagine how our lives will be with AI, blockchain, and upcoming technologies.
Don't be afraid of mistakes. It is important to be open but also diligent. Get information online, and follow KOLs but make the decision yourself. Don't just follow whatever looks great. Do your research, be curious and open but think before big decisions. Find what makes you comfortable and be true to yourself. Make Sure every new thing that comes into your life makes it better not worse. Thank you.
Alicia: Thank you, guys, for the response, besides all the questions, are there more thoughts you guys would like to share?
Adelina: Just don't limit yourself and do what you love. Uplift each other!
Kristina: Exactly, be positive and try out new things but also don't overwhelm yourself. The most important thing is to enjoy everything and find the most sustainable way to make your life better.
Sasha: The life-work balance is very important, don't wear yourself out. Make sure to take care of yourself. Keep the good vibe and energy!