NFTs unleash the imagination: The gender gap that needs to be addressed

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have received a lot of media attention, but experts agree that they will have an impact beyond the sale of digital artwork or tweets and change the way people exchange ideas forever.

While the global NFT market promises to break this mold, it is as pale, masculine and outdated as the traditional art industry. Recent statistics show that only 16% of NFT creators are women, a staggering gender disparity that reflects the underrepresentation of women in today’s NFT ecosystem.

According to a survey conducted by Art Tactic and published by Bloomberg, works by women artists account for only 5% of NFT market sales. In contrast, male artists accounted for 77% of sales (16% were artists of unknown gender and 2% were collectives).

However, some NFT projects are working to overcome this problem. Rarible is one of them. Rarible prioritizes support for NFT projects led by women. Cointelegraph interviewed industry experts Masha Vyazemskaya, head of communications at Rarible, and Rebekah Keida, chief marketing officer at XBTO, about gender differences in the NFT space. According to Vyazemskaya, the tech industry has always been a male-dominated field, which she believes “creates a sense of intimidation for many women who want to enter the NFT space.” She added:

As the industry continues to mature, it is important to champion our female artists and innovators, promote and encourage their work, and give them more opportunities to shape the future of the industry.

She believes that the challenges women creators face when they first enter the NFT space are based on “the broader technology industry.” According to her, “The traditional tech industry has historically catered to male aspirations and success, creating a misleading expectation that technology is primarily for men.”

Vyazemskaya believes that realizing this is a critical first step in encouraging more women to participate in the NFT industry. As she puts it, by supporting successful female creators and projects led by women, we will set a precedent for future generations of innovators that the NFT space is a “women’s community.”

According to XBTO’s Rebekah Keida, two important measures to increase the number of women involved in the NFT and Web3 space are “to get more people involved in cryptocurrency education and foster a greater sense of inclusion.”

To be honest, the industry is still young and rapidly developing, so no one is really an 'expert'. We all learn together. The more we can promote this notion of inclusivity, the more welcoming the field will be to new crypto users and women looking to get involved.

What advice would they give to women considering working in NFTs? Vyazemskaya says it's a good idea to start interacting with other creators and collectors as soon as possible.

In her opinion, the NFT community is one of the “most supportive”, with a lot of really valuable communication and interaction happening on social media and internet marketplaces like Rarible.

On the other hand, Keida suggests that getting started seems easy, just get started. "Do your own research," she added. She believes one-on-one conversations, whether through Twitter or Discord, are extremely valuable. The typical media coverage of NFT investment stories is optimistic — either a huge success or a catastrophic failure.

As you reach out and start making personal connections, you realize that there are so many insights to glean.