Women on the Block

Abstract

In response to the stark gender disparity that plagued blockchain in its early days, a range of 'women in blockchain' initiatives emerged, some more effective than others. Blockchain scenes including 'meetups,' conferences, and hackathons, present ideal sites to observe these tensions. This study is a technofeminist discourse analysis based on participant observations at blockchain events and interviews with women who work in the industry. It demonstrates how women’s participation in various blockchain scenes can be enabling or constraining depending on the gender power relations of the event. I propose three discursive frames for analyzing these scenes: (1) gender-blind meritocracy, (2) lean into blockchain, and (3) intersectional inclusion.