In the tech industry, especially Web3, there’s a large gap between the number of men and women who are actively participating in it. Whether they are traders, startup founders, or workers, men take up the majority of these positions. This leads to an unfair proportion of those who are recognized for their notable achievements due to their gender. Here at 10 women who both excel in Web3 and continue to break the status quo of the tech industry:

Caitlin Long

Caitlin Long is the founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, a Wyoming-based bank that serves as both a digital asset custodian and a traditional financial institution. It provides traditional banking services while safely managing keys, tokens, and other digital assets.

As a managing director at Morgan Stanley (MS) in New York from 2007 to 2016, she became interested with bitcoin in 2012. Following the 2014 Mt. Gox hack, which highlighted the need for a business that bridges digital and traditional money, started her journey into the cryptocurrency market. Long worked on Wall Street for 22 years, including at Salomon Brothers, Credit Suisse, and other firms, before concentrating on digital assets.

Denelle Dixon

Denelle Dixon is CEO and executive director of the Stellar Development Foundation, a nonprofit that makes financial services accessible to everyone through blockchain technology. Dixon also led the creation of Stellar humanitarian Assist, a cutting-edge humanitarian distribution system utilized by the International Rescue Committee and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The government of Ukraine also collaborated with the Stellar network to create digital money issued by the central bank.

Elizabeth Stark

Elizabeth Stark is a blockchain entrepreneur and educator who founded Lightning Labs in 2016. The company created and maintains the Lightning Network, a technology that makes transactions faster and less expensive in order to solve bitcoin's scaling issues. In addition, Stark advises Chia, a business creating blockchain technology, and is a fellow at Coin Center, a well-known group that advocates for digital currency policy. She previously served as a visiting fellow at Yale's Information Society Project and taught classes on the internet's future at Stanford and Yale universities.

Kathleen Breitman

Kathleen Breitman co-founded Tezos in 2016 alongside her husband, Arthur. Tezos is a blockchain network that enables smart contract deployment and peer-to-peer transactions, powered by its native cryptocurrency, Tezos (XTZ). She was the CEO of Dynamic Ledger Solutions, which was in charge of creating the first iteration of the Tezos platform, at the beginning of the project.

As early as 2014, Breitman was active in the blockchain environment prior to starting Tezos. Before joining R3, a New York-based company that specialized in blockchain platforms for payments and settlements, she worked at Accenture (ACN), where she used blockchain technology for business solutions. Her background in blockchain innovation and conventional finance has been crucial to the creation and expansion of the Tezos ecosystem.

Sandy Kaul

Sandy Kaul is the head of digital assets and industry advisory services at Franklin Templeton (BEN), a global investment management firm overseeing $1.4 trillion in assets. After discovering the Ethereum network and realizing the revolutionary potential of smart contracts, she developed an interest in blockchain in 2016.

In a paper, Kaul predicted the emergence of tokenized frameworks in asset management and investment, a trend that has subsequently spread throughout the financial and cryptocurrency industries.

Patricia Trompeter

Patricia Trompeter is the CEO of Sphere 3D (ANY), a carbon-neutral cryptocurrency mining company. She was the chief financial officer of General Electric's information technology business, GE Capital IT Solutions (GE), prior to joining Sphere 3D.

Trompeter mentors other first-generation students and women from underrepresented backgrounds because of her experience as a foster child who was eventually adopted and became one of her family's first college graduates.

Staci Warden

Staci Warden is the CEO of the Algorand Foundation, a Singapore-based organization that oversees the development and growth of the Algorand blockchain network. With extensive experience across more than 50 countries, she has collaborated with governments and businesses, advocating for the use of crypto and blockchain technology to address real-world challenges and promote global financial inclusion.

Before joining Algorand, Warden held a leadership role at the Milken Institute, where she spearheaded initiatives focused on capital market development, financial technology, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain. Her career also includes significant positions at JPMorgan (JPM), Nasdaq (NDAQ), and the Department of the Treasury, where she worked on projects ranging from financial services to economic policy.

Meltem Demirors

Meltem Demirors is the founder and general partner at Crucible, an early-stage investment fund focused on building the foundations of the digital future. Crucible, which was established in 2024, seeks to find and fund creative initiatives that influence the financial and technological landscape.

Demirors was the chief strategy officer at CoinShares, the biggest digital asset investment firm in Europe, before starting Crucible. In this role, she was instrumental in forming the company's strategic vision and growing its product line in the quickly changing cryptocurrency sector. When she joined the founding team at Digital Currency Group in 2015, she helped establish the foundation for investments in blockchain technology and digital assets, marking the beginning of her career in the cryptocurrency space.

Arianna Simpson

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Arianna Simpson currently serves as a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where she focuses on investing in digital assets. She helped start Crystal Towers Capital, an early-stage venture capital fund, and Autonomous Partners, an investment fund focused on cryptocurrencies and digital assets, prior to joining Andreessen Horowitz in 2020.

Simpson has had positions in product management and sales at BitGo, an enterprise security firm that specializes in bitcoin and other digital currencies, and Facebook (META). 

Gracy Chen

Gracy Chen is the CEO of Bitget, a leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company. With more than ten years of expertise in marketing, investing, and business administration, she has greatly increased the company's strategic alliances, working under her direction with international stars like Lionel Messi. Chen was also a judge and panelist on the reality TV program Killer Whales, where Web3 entrepreneurs present their cryptocurrency and NFT ideas to professionals in the field.

Gracy Chen also aims to challenge the status quo of the gender disparity with South East Asia Blockchain4Her Awards. The South East Asia Blockchain4Her Award celebrates women’s role for driving innovation and gender inclusivity in the blockchain industry in the region. South East Asia's thriving blockchain scene, where talented women have played an important role, continues to attract investors and entrepreneurs looking to tap into the Web3 trend. 

The event is open for nominations until October 31, where 5 deserving women get recognized for their talents, efforts, and contributions to Web3. All the awards will be presented on November 15 in Bangkok Thailand

Out of the 5 women, 4 will be chosen for the Rising Female in Blockchain Award. This award celebrates up-and-coming women eager to get into Web3, focusing on their potential, early achievements, and contributions to company growth. Four winners will receive entrance tickets to the Devcon Southeast Asia conference from 12th to 15th November in Bangkok Thailand.

Lastly, 1 woman will be granted the prestigious Innovative Web3 Female Entrepreneur Award. This award is an honor to women founders driving Web3 advancements with transformative impacts. The winner will win a round-trip including airfares and lodging to Bangkok for the DevCon conference worth $1,500 USD.

The South East Asia Blockchain4Her Awards looks to promote discussion about gender equality in the industry while recognizing the accomplishments of women in blockchain. The program was introduced in January with a $10 million pledge to advance inclusion and diversity in the blockchain industry. On top of that, there will be a pitching and networking event designed for female builders, by female builders on November 15.

For those interested to become a nominee or nominate an astounding woman in Web3, feel free to submit through their nomination form.