Women taking charge in the NFT market
Women taking charge in the NFT market.
A list of influential women in the NFT and Web3 space to follow.
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It’s no secret that Web3 is a male-dominated space. Blue-chip NFT projects such as Bored Ape Bored Ape Yacht Club and Crypto Punks are run by men. So are NFT market place like Open Sea, Rarible and Nifty Gateway , as well as blockchain like Axie Infinity and Splinterlands.
Woman make up only 15% of the artists on the marketplace while “male artists command 77% of total primary and secondary sales value at $258.3 million.”
However, in recent months, women-led NFT projects have been making waves as they champion women-empowerment and inclusivity for all.
- Yam Karkai, co-founder and artist of World of Women
With World of Women (WoW) securing one high-profile partnership after another, Yam Karkai is fast becoming a big name in the NFT space. As a matter of fact, supporting one-of-one crypto artists and women-focused charities are two of the project’s core missions. For example, the WoW Fund, set up from 15% of the primary sales, highlights emerging NFT artists in the space. Apart from this, the project supports a number of women-led organizations and sustainability-focused organizations, including Code Green NFT, She’s the First, and Too Young To Wed.
2. Paris Hilton, socialite and NFT enthusiast
Despite her controversial image in the past, Paris Hilton has managed to turn her brand into a multimillion dollar business and has been betting big on NFTs. She created her first NFT in 2019 which sold in March 2020 for charity. In April 2021, she launched her own NFT collection in collaboration with designer Blake Kathryn, with her 1/1 Iconic Crypto Queen art selling for $1.11 million. Paris Hilton is also an avid NFT collector, with more than 150 NFTs in her collection.
3. Randi Zuckerberg, NFT collector and Web3 investor
Not living in the shadow of her brother, Mark Zuckerberg, Randi Zuckerberg has made a name for herself in the Web3 space as an avid NFT collector and Web3 investor. She has recently announced HUG, a creator accelerator “championing a new breed of creators in web3”. Randi Zuckerberg had already been working with women-led projects such as Boss Beauties, Women Rise, Women and Weapons, and Curious Addys which will form groupHUG #0001 to help each other succeed in their NFT journeys. Even though there’s been a lot of press around Randi Zuckerberg debating whether the content she creates is cringe or not, her efforts in bringing awareness to the crypto and the NFT space is one of the reasons why she deserves a spot in this roundup.
4. Cathy Hackl, metaverse/Web3 strategist
A self-proclaimed “Godmother of the Metaverse”, Cathy Hackl is a globally recognised metaverse expert and tech futurist who has been helping brands and organisations better understand and enter the metaverse. She is the CEO of Futures Intelligence Group, a leading metaverse consultancy working with the world’s top brands on metaverse growth strategies, NFTs, gaming, virtual fashion, and a sought-after speaker on Web3 topics. She will be serving as the first-ever chair of the Metaverse Fashion Week held in Decentraland and a portrait of her is part of the Boss Beauties Role Models collection.
5. Reese Witherspoon, actress and NFT enthusiast
While she’s best known for acting, Reese Witherspoon has been supporting creators in the NFT space and encouraging more women to be part of the conversation She has been collecting NFTs from women-led projects such as World of Women, Women Rise, Boss Beauties, Flower Girls, 1989 Sisters and more. Her media company, Hello Sunshine has recently inked a partnership deal with World of Women to expand its character universe.
6. Helen Hai, Head of Binance NFT and Charity
Before leading Binance’s NFT marketplace, Helen Hai was the crypto exchange’s head of Charity, where she raises Bitcoin for charities and partners like Mercy Corps, Unicef, Hope for Haiti, and most recently, Binance’s Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund. As head of Binance NFT and Charity, Helen Hai hopes to connect the crypto world to the real world through art and make the migration from the finance world to the crypto world easier.
7. Lisa Mayer, Boss Beauties founder and CEO
Lisa Mayer founded Boss Beauties in August 2021 after 10 years building e-commerce site, My Social Canvas. Since then, Boss Beauties has grown into a women-led global initiative that creates opportunities for girls and women through cutting-edge collaborations. Leading up to International Women’s Day, Boss Beauties has landed a number of high-profile partnerships with brands like Neiman Marcus, Barbie and Hugo Boss. Boss Beauties will host their inaugural International Women’s Day event at NEBULA in Midtown Manhattan, where the Boss Beauties Role Models collection will be unveiled today.
8. Maliha Abidi, founder of Women Rise NFT
At only 26 years old, Maliha Abidi created Women Rise for a good cause: to turn it into an organisation for social justice with women’s rights and girls’ education at its core. Launched in Nov 2021, Women Rise is now sold out. It has announced a partnership with Coinbase, Snapchat and Ledger to celebrate women in Web3. Women Rise has ambitions to build the first school in the metaverse for millions of children out of school. It has also made donations to the Malala Fund and various organisations supporting gender equality, girls’ education and mental health in marginalised societies.
9. Varvara Alay, artist and creator of Flower Girls NFT
An illustrator and teacher, Vavara Alay founded the Flower Girls NFT project to give to charity and support NFTs made by children. Not only is she creating NFT art, she is also buying and spotlighting pieces of art that benefit charitable initiatives. In February, The Flower Girls donated more than $400,000 across children’s charities. Flower Girls has recently partnered with Dolphin Entertainment to further promote its charitable initiatives and expand its brand across all lifestyle and entertainment verticals
10. Yogita Khatri, senior reporter at The Block
Before joining The Block as senior reporter, Yogita Khatri worked for Coindesk and The Economic Times. Whenever there’s a big story in the crypto space, she’s there to report it. She covers all things crypto, NFTs and Web3.
11. Gardi Rigby, host, partnership & friends manager at Bit.Country Metaverse.Network
Gardi Rigby has amassed a vast knowledge of crypto since 2017. She is partnership & friends manager at Metaverse.Network, where she is responsible for talking with metaverse launchers, community owners and brands as well as processing partnership applications. In addition, Gardi hosts the Metaverse News on Bit.Country’s YouTube Channel. Prior to Bit.Country and Metaverse.Network, Gardi was Business Development Manager at Aimy Software and Area Manager at AI Tayer Group in Dubai
12. 8SIAN
Similar to female representation, Asian representation is also extremely lacking in the NFT industry. Amid this, the 8SIAN Project s trying to solve both these problems with its collection of 8,888 Asian women NFTs. The project, founded by Nicole, aims to “represent and showcase the many cultures and heritage of Asia in the virtual world”. True to their mission, the NFTs showcase diverse women from various Asian culture
The 8SIAN NFT collection provides a number of interesting perks as well. For one, there is the community-led fund to host contests and events, support charities and emerging artists, and more. But the main highlight is the plans to integrate the project into the metaverse. In the near future, members can expect an 8SIAN Museum, 3D metaverse-ready 8SIANs, and Asian-inspired digital wearables!
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