The Use Cases and Applications for Involving Women in Blockchain

That's how New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney rallied the crowd on May 13 at the "Women on the Block" event in Brooklyn, New York, where more than 300 people came together to talk about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

The fact is that women are still underrepresented in positions of privilege and power across the board - and the blockchain industry is no exception.

Sure enough, women at the event, including German entrepreneur Masha McConaghy, co-founder of both BigchainDB and the Ocean Protocol, told CoinDesk that women could benefit from blockchain technology, perhaps, even more than men.

That's because women still deal with issues surrounding financial access and empowerment - women make up the majority of the world's poor, according to the World Bank - and a pseudonymous and censorship-resistant system could provide a solution.

In Saudi Arabia, women are still legally barred from receiving a business loan or license until two men testify of her behalf.

"There are still women whose husbands and fathers are controlling and they can't access their own money."

For her, inclusive corporate practices are the key to building effective blockchain solutions that take these different problems women deal with into account.

For many women at the event - who on Mother's Day brought mothers, daughters and sisters - the key to getting more women in the space is education.

In knowing the struggles that women in the industry, and even more broadly, face, the tone of the day wasn't discouraged.

As a matter of fact, many of the women joked about the current perks of being a minority in the space - including the fact that there's hardly ever a line for the women's restroom.