Women in Web3: The Superpower of Women in Blockchain
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Women in Web3: The Superpower of Women in Blockchain
In the U.S. Fortune 500 list, women CEOs account for only 6.4%. The business world captured in the spotlight is uniformly depicted as group photos of board members in suits and ties, a solid alliance of masculine camaraderie around banquet tables, and Hollywood films featuring male programmer geeks in plaid shirts. Biases and stereotypes
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insights
Buidler DAO: Web3 Talent and Project Incubator
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In the Fortune 500 list of U.S. companies, women CEOs account for only 6.4%. The business world captured under the spotlight is dominated by boardroom photos of men in suits, alliances forged over drinks defined by masculine camaraderie, and Hollywood portrayals of male tech geeks in plaid shirts. Bias and stereotypes affect everyone, especially women.
In "The Male Domination," Bourdieu wrote, “Woman is a condition.” Business, technology, and culture are rapidly evolving—this condition is shifting. Yet, in the broader tech landscape represented by web3, female power still requires us to search diligently with a magnifying glass.
But present dissatisfaction can also become the first line of poetry. Therefore, Buidler DAO has sought out three exceptionally powerful women in the Web3 world—hoping to let them become the protagonists of narratives, showcasing “their” efforts, “their” achievements, and “their” dreams.
Through their explorations on the path of enlightenment, our imagination of the present expands infinitely, revealing boundless possibilities for our own futures. By following their reflections and practices, we collectively dismantle default assumptions about success shaped by stereotypes, recognizing and giving concrete answers to the essence of life itself.
Know Her Name
01/ Cheryl Liu
Co-founder of Deeper Network, full scholarship Ph.D. in the U.S.
Twitter: @deeper_network
02/ Maggie Wu
CEO & Co-founder of Krypital Group and Galactic Holdings, serial entrepreneur for 20 years
Twitter: @MaggieWu_KG
03/ Lemon Lin
Co-founder & CMO of iZUMi Finance, first Chair of Zhejiang University Blockchain Club
Twitter: @Lemon.bit
Cheryl Liu
I understand the secrets of making money well, but I cannot break through to a higher level. I truly want to be an entrepreneur who impacts more people’s lives and brings fundamental change.
Conventional views suggest that women should be more conservative. But when it comes to leadership, cognition, execution, and connecting with people, women's attention to detail presents no issues at all.
From Town Quiz-Taker to Curriculum Designer: A Transformation Journey
In 2018, I immigrated from the United States to Vancouver. During that era, few people studied abroad. I received a full scholarship to pursue my Ph.D. in the U.S., which covered both tuition and living expenses—a role akin to a job. Influenced early on by several important teachers, I fought my way out of a small city, earned a full scholarship through my own abilities, stayed in the U.S., started businesses, and arrived where I am today...
Why did I enter the blockchain industry early? It stemmed from innate sharpness, insight, and commercial awareness.
My family had no entrepreneurial background, yet I tried everything within reach. Without compromising academics, I began saving pocket money as early as elementary school, reselling small goods at night markets for profit, then launching online stores. As a student, my options were limited, but by university I was already financially independent. Back then, smartphones didn’t exist—only flip Motorola and Nokia phones, where a 300,000-pixel camera felt cutting-edge. Whenever a new phone model launched, I’d buy one for each parent. The feeling of improving our family’s quality of life was incredibly rewarding. These seemingly insignificant experiences kept me thinking deeply and reflecting consistently compared to peers, allowing low-cost experimentation, exploration of frontier fields, and pursuit of novel opportunities—all crucial to entering this industry early and choosing the right赛道 (track).
After 2015, I abandoned academic research due to the immense potential and future promise of blockchain. Friends around me began mining, and I quickly sensed the opportunity—from buying Bitcoin miners and hash power, participating in Ethereum mining, purchasing GPUs, self-learning to assemble multi-GPU rigs, to building and managing mining farms... I essentially entered the industry through mining. Between 2015 and 2018, I led teams providing blockchain-related services and legal consulting, acting as the “water carriers” amid an explosion of new projects.
Five Years, 100 Million Nodes
Building the Bridge from Web2 to Web3
In 2018, I met Russell Liu at a blockchain conference—he is now Deeper Network’s technical co-founder. He firmly declared his vision to build the next-generation trusted internet, ensuring users have 100% ownership of their data sovereignty—deciding what they see, do, or don’t do. He demonstrated his self-developed cybersecurity operating system, featuring enterprise-grade firewalls and other innovative security functions—highly pioneering at the time and still unmatched four years later.
Developing an OS is a massive undertaking. Russell’s small team created a sophisticated visualized cybersecurity OS capable of delivering real seven-layer enterprise-level protection—an indication of his extraordinary R&D capability, foresight, and leadership. He is a rare top-tier technical genius and creator in Silicon Valley. Having seen countless projects, most lacked real-world applicability. Can truly user-friendly blockchain technology be realized? Can it reach every household? Are there high-frequency, essential use cases for everyone? All these remain questionable. I’ve always valued sound business logic and models. What impressed me about Deeper Network was its powerful killer application. Whether ordinary internet users understand Web3 or blockchain, they need a product or service—and will naturally become Web3 users.
Before 2018, it took me ten years to master creating economic value using established knowledge and mature business models. But humans often get stuck—once you know how to make money, it becomes hard to evolve into someone more creative. So I decided to break through, aiming to impact the world with hardcore technologies that genuinely improve human convenience and comfort—to truly become an entrepreneur building a strong-ecosystem unicorn company.
Speculation Cannot Change the World
Dedicated to Building Killer Applications
When people think of infrastructure, they instinctively associate it with large investments, low returns, long cycles, and thankless effort.
Deeper builds Web3 infrastructure ecosystems—first distributing hardware products (nodes) to households, establishing backbone networks, offering enterprise-grade firewalls, privacy protection, ad-blocking, and other killer features, ultimately forming the world’s largest decentralized edge computing platform. All subsequent ecosystem services rely on this backbone network, generating network effects and integrating networking, storage, and computation—a highly challenging endeavor. Despite this, Deeper Connect—the hardware node device—has consistently ranked among the top ten bestsellers across millions of products on mainstream platforms Kickstarter and Indiegogo, repeatedly breaking records as the only Web3 product featured on these major crowdfunding platforms.
If all Web3 participants are solely speculative, Web3 will never produce mainstream applications that impact the world. I approach this with an entrepreneurial mindset, committing to a decade-long journey. We’re currently in hyper-growth mode, scaling from 80,000 active nodes toward our next milestone—1 million nodes—to achieve true network effects and build the world’s largest decentralized edge computing platform.
Any technology only becomes mainstream after enough people adopt it—crossing the chasm from niche speculators to mass adoption. With 6 billion people globally, Web3 applications today face a market of roughly 1 billion users. We must create killer apps so compelling that this billion-user base cannot resist using them.
Launching rockets is difficult—small companies can’t do it. But someone must, because it matters to humanity and society. I hope Deeper Network solves real problems faced by every Web2 internet user, offering killer applications that seamlessly bring users into the Web3 world, bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3.
Traditional Views Suggest Women Should Be Conservative
Yet Female Entrepreneurs Shine in Details
The entrepreneurial environment today remains male-dominated. Throughout my career, fellow founders have mostly been men. As a female founder, I believe women aren’t inherently less innovative or less capable than men. Society holds outdated notions suggesting women should be more conservative. However, women often bring greater attention to detail when starting ventures. Through accumulated experience and insight, women develop leadership, cognitive ability, execution skills, and networking capabilities—none of these are issues.
Bear markets are precisely when deep thinking and solid work matter most. Churchill once said, “Never waste a crisis.” There’s an old Chinese saying: seek virtue, gain virtue. In the West, it’s called the law of attraction. As long as you believe in yourself and steadily accumulate progress from small steps, you’ll eventually reap what you deserve.
Image source: Cheryl Liu’s social circle
Maggie Wu
I love novelty and enjoy engaging in uncharted territories. I relish challenges and often pioneer new paths. Now, I don’t just want to be first—I want to be number one.
I never consider gender in my work. I reject statements like “because you’re a woman, you should…” For me, everyone is equal regardless of gender or race...
Leap of Faith
From Traditional Internet Finance Investing to Founding a Web3 VC
I majored in English Language and Literature at Xiamen University. I moved to the U.S. in 2005 and have been an entrepreneur since 2002—20 years in total. During the 2008 financial crisis, I delved deeper into investing, previously focusing on traditional industries. In 2016, I began following Bitcoin, seriously studying the whitepaper, sparking intense interest in this new form of financial internet. My first Bitcoin purchase was on Coinbase—I was a complete beginner.
The 24/7 cryptocurrency trading market fascinated me. Starting with simple trades on Coinbase, I gradually explored complex derivatives on various exchanges, eventually becoming a professional trader. After taking that first step, my research deepened. I was among the first cohorts to attend MIT Sloan’s blockchain course.
At the end of 2017 during the ICO boom, my partners and I decided to formally establish a blockchain-focused venture fund—Krypital Group. Initially funded with our own capital, we invested passionately. By late 2018, the industry swiftly entered a bear market—the first such cycle we experienced—teaching us profound lessons. But as the ancient parable goes: misfortune may be an actual blessing in disguise. Market cleansing leads to greater maturity.
Since deciding to raise external funds, our team has maintained confidence, committed to staying in this industry. From 2019 to 2021, we invested in numerous DeFi, GameFi, and NFT projects including Injective, Animoca Brands, Solv, Highstreet, deBridge, and Blocto. Many listed on Binance and performed well; some completed multiple funding rounds at higher valuations. Overall, our portfolio has delivered strong results.
Beyond primary market investments, I trade in secondary markets. Since mid-last year, we recognized the downward trend and began gradually exiting positions around May. The industry is now in another bear market, expected to last some time. While we continue evaluating projects, our selection criteria are far stricter than during bull markets. This is positive—projects are more focused on building, valuations are more reasonable, unlike the inflated bubbles seen during bull runs. As investors, beyond risk control, we emphasize post-investment management—patiently supporting and holistically growing our portfolios.
Witnessing the Paradigm Shift Underway in the Internet
Web2 and Web3 have become hot topics in recent years. The future will be one where Web2 (centralized) and Web3 (decentralized) coexist.
The traditional internet is undergoing a paradigm shift, driven forward by blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Why explore this transformation? First, it addresses pain points of traditional internet; second, it holds enormous growth potential. Currently, Web2’s market cap is over $400 billion, while Web3 stands at just over $20 billion—indicating vast room for expansion.
As widely known, Facebook rebranded to Meta last October, pledging $10 billion toward VR development—highlighting the Metaverse’s significance in the future. Research shows people spend increasing time in virtual worlds. Future virtual environments will permeate all aspects of human life and work—offering immense imagination and becoming a key focus of our investment strategy.
We are fortunate to be in the relatively early stages of industry development and will continue exploring Web3 for years to come.
Turning the Impossible into Possible
Ascending the Loft of Female Practitioners in Web3
I’ve always been deeply curious, drawn to new things and challenges. I love diving into unexplored areas, often being the first to try something. Curiosity evolved into ambition. Today, I don’t just want to be first—I aim to be the best.
I only pursue what I’m passionate about—this passion continuously drives me to learn without pause. I feel humbled by humanity’s vastness and my own ignorance, filled with curiosity and thirst for knowledge, constantly expanding my understanding of the world, thoroughly enjoying the process.
Having built businesses in the U.S. for many years, I know biases exist against Chinese or female entrepreneurs. But I’m fiercely competitive. As a Chinese woman founder in America, I refuse to be stereotyped by race or gender. In any setting, I dislike hearing “because you’re a woman,” or leveraging gender for attention. I never factor gender into my work—everyone is equal, regardless of gender or race...
Paradoxically, I deeply hope women secure a rightful place in this industry. I once saw a list titled “Top 25 Crypto Industry Executives in 2022”—not a single woman made the cut. I aspire to rise as a Chinese female founder to lead industry-leading enterprises. I encourage more women to join, not limiting themselves. Become whoever you want—just go for it, give it your all!
Work takes me frequently to Mexico, where massive feminist movements occur annually. Months ago, I witnessed one firsthand—many women marching, occasionally interrupted by sounds of firecrackers. I wondered why Mexican feminism seemed so extreme. Later, I learned that in Q1 2020 alone, nearly a thousand women were murdered in various forms, mostly young girls aged teens to twenties.
Artist Elina Shoville held an exhibition called “Red Shoes” (Zapatos Rojos) in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Each red shoe on the street symbolized a real victim of violence, standing in for hundreds of missing women. In Mexico, women’s status is abysmally low—they suffer sexual abuse, are beaten to death, and left in desolate fields. Red shoes represent spilled blood.
These real-life events deeply affected me. Admittedly, opportunities in society and industry remain disproportionately fewer for women. While some feminist actions may seem radical, within specific contexts, they carry positive social significance in advancing women’s rights. Ultimately, I advocate for equality—women deserve fairer environments.
Lemon Lin
Many women, especially younger ones, may doubt themselves or question the meaning of their work along the way.
I founded the Zhejiang University Blockchain Club before graduation, officially entering the blockchain industry as its inaugural chair and founder. The startup teams I collaborated with back then now wield global influence. This gives me tremendous satisfaction. I’m firmly committed to long-termism in this industry.
An Unlimited Life: From Curator to Blockchain Association Chair
I studied Japanese in college, pursued graduate studies in history curation, and completed the management enhancement program at Zhejiang University’s Chu Kochen Honors College. My academic background is diverse, rooted in humanities.
I embody a contradictory zodiac profile—rising sign Capricorn, sun sign Cancer—seeking stability while pursuing ambition. I find inner harmony amid change, seeking stability within fluidity.
In 2017, before graduating, I founded the Zhejiang University Blockchain Club, officially stepping into blockchain as its founding chair. My entry was largely inspired by outstanding seniors at ZJU who guided me into this space.
Market conditions were favorable then—our first recruitment drive and event attracted huge interest. We partnered with renowned consortium chain startups founded by ZJU alumni, such as Yunxiang, Quchain, and MYC, now leading compliant consortium chain enterprises. Collaborating with them from day one, I watched them grow from zero to unicorn status.
Other notable clients included Bybit, BitMart, Canaan Creative, Bibox, and Nervos. Most were startups then—now globally influential. This brings me great pride.
Additionally, I organized numerous campus events. Our club maintained 30–40 core developers annually, hosting weekly technical sharing sessions every Thursday for members and students—a tradition continuing today. I also initiated blockchain events and hackathons, ongoing endeavors.
In 2018, due to the club’s success, I helped launch BTCU (China University Blockchain Technology Alliance), serving as a core founder. It was here I met my current project partner—he was founder and first chair of Tsinghua’s Blockchain Association. BTCU connected me with exceptional developers from Tsinghua, Peking University, ShanghaiTech, Shanghai Jiao Tong, Fudan, Central University of Finance and Economics, and UESTC. ShanghaiTech surprised me—it lacks the fame of others, yet boasts top-tier developers, all from information engineering backgrounds.
Application Ecosystem Maturity and Developer Growth Go Hand-in-Hand
After graduation, I launched a hackathon brand called Bitrun. Surviving bull and bear markets, public chain projects continued developing nonstop. Back in 2018, this was extremely tough. The blockchain environment wasn’t supportive—everyone chased public chain hype. I hosted hackathons to help students and developers build DApps on public chains. But 2018’s public chains weren’t usable—hackathons felt more like debugging support rather than development. Unlike today, where DApps are viable, it was very difficult then.
This effort faced significant resistance, leading me to abandon it—a regret. Although the application ecosystem hadn’t matured, developers grew with the industry. Had I persisted, I could’ve captured later industry dividends. Still, my 2018 efforts bore fruit when the industry matured—most of my current investments and project partners stem from connections made back then.
Today’s outcomes originate from yesterday’s causes. That’s my entrepreneurial insight.
Building the Next-Gen High-Efficiency DEX
iZUMi Finance is my venture launched in June 2021. After years in the industry, I no longer wish to waste time on short-term projects—they lack meaningful impact. I aim for long-termism. On-chain liquidity is a persistent demand, unlike short-lived projects chasing fleeting trends.
iZUMi Finance is a multi-chain DeFi platform offering one-stop liquidity management services. Beyond transaction fees, we provide project tokens and iZUMi tokens as liquidity incentives, combined with tools and strategies, helping projects attract liquidity. A prime example is Bybit, our major client and largest investor. We assisted Bybit in migrating BIT token liquidity from UniV2 to UniV3 with more efficient subsidies, enabling lower costs and higher TVL.
iZiSwap is the first decentralized exchange based on the Discretized-Liquidity AMM model, maximizing capital efficiency. Simply put, market makers on iZiSwap can provide liquidity within specific price ranges similar to UniV3—the optimal solution under current blockchain performance limits. Traders can set limit orders, better capturing opportunities compared to standard swaps.
We believe the on-chain liquidity sector will keep improving. The shift from centralized to decentralized exchanges has begun. On-chain liquidity, applications, and GameFi will increasingly center around decentralized trading scenarios. I won’t withdraw my gaming tokens to centralized exchanges every time—it’s too cumbersome. On-chain trading remains a constant, foundational demand, unaffected by market swings. This is a sustainable, high-growth赛道 (track) worth deep commitment.
My personal goal is to make iZUMi Finance a stronger brand with more users. Long-term, DEXs are foundational infrastructure. With sufficient scale and traffic, they become pivotal hubs for project launches and on-chain trading—our ultimate mission. Currently, I’m leading the creation of an ecosystem fund from scratch, investing early in quality assets, engaging promising projects, and expanding outward through fundraising for deeper value and ecosystem investments.
Defying the CMO Stereotype
Women Should Confidently Showcase Their Strengths
The term CMO has been stigmatized, so I often avoid identifying as one. But I am both Co-founder and CMO—CMO is just a role.
Women hold certain advantages on social media. If you’re talented, skilled, intelligent, or possess unique industry insights, these are strengths. There’s no need to shy away from showcasing yourself or feel ashamed about gaining followers through your talents. Confident people shouldn’t worry.
Smart individuals should display their strengths and turn them into monetization avenues, while avoiding falling into stereotype traps. Let people notice your real achievements and ideas, reshaping perceptions. That’s wise—and there’s no need to disdain traffic-attracting methods just because others might judge you. It’s unnecessary.
I know many outstanding women who’ve done incredible things in this industry. Song Ting exemplifies female strength. She organized many events in New York—we supported each other closely. She’s resolute in her beliefs and goals, influencing and inspiring others, persistently evangelizing within her field. Beyond Web3 circles, she engages traditional collectors, artists, entrepreneurs, and experts in fields like quantum computing, spreading Web3’s spirit to broader worlds. This is true female power—self-reliant, resilient, independent!
The “2020 Global Gender Gap Report” indicates humanity is 99.5 years away from true gender equality, with income parity expected to take 257 years. Cyberspace is a public commons, evolving through collective action. Collective progress relies on sincere, valuable interactions and collaborative win-win dynamics among individuals, genders, minds, and souls.
Buidler DAO strives to build a community free from gender-based privilege or bias, helping everyone access the Web3 new world equally. Web3 is a technological revolution and intellectual experiment requiring both women and men to participate. It demands women break self-imposed limitations and structural changes toward greater diversity and inclusion.
Web3 is genderless—on the path to being oneself, there’s no need to define whether you’re male or female. We hope to courageously push aside rough boulders, and sincerely hope one day the world won’t need to emphasize identity or recognition—gender ceasing to be a focal point. Every individual finding and becoming themselves—that is both reality and ideal.
The future lies within today’s sparks—great stories are unfolding…
If you’re interested in women’s power in Web3 and want to help build a more inclusive industry environment, scan the QR code to join our WeChat group. Let us buidl!
/ Writing /
Jayde Zhang | WeChat: zxy09gm | Buidler DAO Researcher
Windy34 | WeChat: felix_lepus | Buidler DAO Researcher
/ Layout /
@Pink
Special thanks to Rui and Coucou for their assistance with this article
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