Saluting Women in Web3: What Projects Have They Built?
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Saluting Women in Web3: What Projects Have They Built?
The Web3 space is no stranger to brilliant female entrepreneurs and powerful women leaders.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsToday is March 8, International Women's Day, a day when achievements made by women are recognized regardless of their nationality, ethnicity, language, culture, economic status, or political stance. In the Web3 industry, women are equally important builders. Yet as Women's Day approaches, Binance co-founder He Yi revealed a harsh reality, stating on Twitter: "Only 5% of founders in the crypto industry are women." She added, "I'm proud to be part of that statistic."
Besides He Yi, who are some other outstanding female founders in the crypto industry?
We’d like to share with you a collection jointly created by ChainCatcher and data platform RootData: [Web3 Projects Founded by Women], highlighting numerous female entrepreneurs in the space, hoping this compilation helps “them” become more visible.
Dawn Song, Founder and CEO of Oasis Network
Twitter: @dawnsongtweets
Professor Dawn Song completed her undergraduate studies in the Department of Physics at Tsinghua University, then continued studying physics at Cornell University in the United States. Later, she transferred to Carnegie Mellon University to study computer science, and eventually earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, focusing on computer security.
After graduation, Dawn Song served as a professor in the computer science departments at both Carnegie Mellon University and UC Berkeley, winning numerous awards in the field of computing and earning the title of "Mother of Computer Security." In 2019, Dawn Song founded Oasis Labs, aiming to build scalable and privacy-preserving systems by combining specialized computer chips with blockchain technology. The Oasis Network officially launched on November 19, 2020, becoming the world’s first high-performance decentralized blockchain network with built-in privacy protection and scalability.
Professor Song has also remained deeply committed to blockchain education. She initiated the well-known DeFi MOOC course. Additionally, together with UC Berkeley, she launched the ZKP MOOC and ZKP/web3 hackathons to provide academic and financial support to young entrepreneurs.
Elizabeth Stark, Co-Founder and CEO of Lightning Labs
Twitter: @starkness
Elizabeth Stark holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Brown University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Before entering the crypto world, she was more of an academic, serving as a researcher at Yale’s Information Society Project, a lecturer in computer science at Yale University, an adjunct associate professor at New York University, and an entrepreneur-in-residence at Stanford StartX.
In 2014, Elizabeth Stark officially entered the crypto space by launching StartBitcoin.org; in 2015, she became a researcher at Coin Center, a policy research organization advocating for sound government policies toward cryptocurrencies and decentralized technologies; in 2016, she co-founded Lightning Labs.
Lightning Labs develops software powering the Lightning Network. Its open-source, secure, and scalable system enables users to send and receive funds more efficiently than ever before. It also offers a range of verifiable, non-custodial financial services built on the Lightning Network.
Even after starting her company, Elizabeth Stark maintained ties with academia, continuing as a visiting scholar at Yale’s Information Society Project and teaching there. As a mentor for the Thiel Fellowship, she supports students under 23 who plan to leave school to pursue other projects.
He Yi, Binance Co-Founder and CMO, Head of Binance Labs
Twitter: @heyibinance
In terms of global exchange landscape, Binance undoubtedly occupies a central position. As co-founder and CMO, He Yi played an indispensable role in Binance’s development.
Binance was initially unknown, but He Yi successfully drove early market momentum and user growth through multiple marketing campaigns. By the end of 2017—just five months after launch—Binance ranked among the top three exchanges globally, with over two million users. Since then, Binance has surged ahead.
After securing Binance’s dominant position in the exchange sector, He Yi took charge of Binance Labs, leveraging Binance’s resources to identify, support, and incubate promising early-stage crypto projects and founders. As one of the largest venture capital firms in the industry by assets under management, Binance Labs has backed numerous early projects across key verticals and significantly contributed to accelerating Web3’s entry into the mainstream.
Jinglan Wang, Co-Founder and CEO of Optimism
Twitter: @jinglejamOP
Jinglan Wang first became interested in the crypto world through the MIT Bitcoin Club. To better understand Bitcoin, she decided to switch to computer science. Starting in 2015, Jinglan Wang focused on Ethereum scalability research. In 2019, she co-founded Plasma Group, a nonprofit research organization that later evolved into Optimism.
Optimism is an Ethereum Layer-2 solution using optimistic rollup technology, significantly reducing transaction costs and confirmation times while preserving Ethereum’s security advantages. In March 2022, Optimism reached a valuation of $1.65 billion, joining the ranks of crypto unicorns. In June of the same year, it officially launched its governance token OP and conducted a massive airdrop, electrifying the entire crypto community.
Elena Nadolinski, Founder and CEO of Iron Fish
Twitter: @leanthebean
Elena Nadolinski graduated from Virginia Tech in the U.S. Recognized by the White House as a rising star in computer science during her teenage years, she interned at Microsoft, worked as an engineer at the popular startup Tilt, and later developed software at Airbnb.
After Ethereum-Google in 2017, Nadolinski developed a strong interest in the crypto world, reading whitepapers extensively and engaging with founders, protocol developers, and engineers. She began attending hackathons and meetups, asking questions, offering solutions, and making connections. Eventually, Nadolinski chose to become a full-time entrepreneur and founded Iron Fish.
Iron Fish is a Layer-1 blockchain designed to serve as a universal privacy layer for all Web3. Using zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs) and the highest industry encryption standards, Iron Fish enables fully private transactions, aiming to become the true SSL layer for all blockchains.
Gloria Zhao, Bitcoin Core Maintainer
Twitter: @glozow
(While Gloria Zhao may not be a founder in the strictest sense, as a representative figure in the Bitcoin project, her journey is equally "hardcore")
Gloria Zhao was born in California, USA, and graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in computer science in 2020. She is also a researcher at Brink, a UK-based nonprofit supporting Bitcoin development. In 2020, Gloria Zhao received Brink’s inaugural scholarship. Since then, she has actively contributed to Bitcoin Core, primarily focusing on mempool and validation code.
In July last year, Gloria Zhao became the sixth developer to gain commit access to Bitcoin Core. Since Bitcoin’s inception in 2009, only 17 people have ever been granted code modification rights, and Gloria Zhao is the first woman to hold this privilege. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, Gloria Zhao is considered a leading candidate to succeed as Bitcoin’s chief maintainer.
Natalia Ameline, Elena Sinelnikova, Co-Founders of Metis and CryptoChicks
Twitter: @Natalia_Ameline @ElenaCryptoChic
Left: Elena Sinelnikova, Right: Natalia Ameline
Natalia Ameline and Elena Sinelnikova are co-founders of Metis, an Ethereum Layer-2 optimistic rollup scaling solution, and also co-founders of CryptoChicks, a nonprofit international blockchain education center for women.
Elena Sinelnikova holds a master’s degree in computer science, specializing in blockchain, cybersecurity, and full-stack programming. She is also a team leader in software development, a blockchain educator, and a blockchain advisor for projects such as MaxGapPlus and Jupiter Vision.
Natalia Ameline is a senior finance executive with experience across multiple industries, holding master’s degrees in computer science and business administration, as well as CPA/CMA accounting qualifications. Her expertise lies in strategic financial planning, decision support, operations management, and change management. Early in her career, she worked as a financial analyst at Unilever, then joined global shipping giant Pitney Bowes, where she spent 18 years rising from financial manager to senior finance executive and Senior Director of Global Business Analytics. Beyond her roles at Metis and CryptoChicks, Natalia Ameline holds another notable identity—she is Vitalik Buterin’s mother.
Kathleen Breitman, Co-Founder of Tezos
Twitter: @_kathleenBreit
Kathleen Breitman graduated from Cornell University. In 2014, she co-authored the Tezos whitepaper with her husband Arthur Breitman, and the project officially launched in October 2016. Prior to that, Kathleen served as a senior strategy associate at R3, a blockchain consortium comprising nearly 100 financial institutions. She also held positions at Accenture, Bridgewater Associates, and The Wall Street Journal.
Sandy Peng, Co-Founder of Scroll
Twitter: @SandyPeng1
Sandy Peng graduated from Cambridge University and earned a master’s degree from the London School of Economics. She previously worked in research at Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission and began investing in Web3 projects in 2017, having also worked on gaming and product-related ventures. Currently, she handles non-technical aspects at Scroll.
In early 2021, Sandy co-founded Scroll, an Ethereum scaling project, with Ye Zhang and Haichen Shen. Recently, Scroll raised $50 million at an $1.8 billion valuation, with investors including Polychain Capital and Bain Capital Crypto.
Kathryn Haun, Founder and CEO of Haun Ventures
Twitter: @katie_haun
Kathryn Haun graduated from Stanford University and spent ten years working at the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2014, she established one of the U.S. government’s first cryptocurrency task forces. In 2017, Kathryn left government service to join Coinbase’s board, where she met Chris Dixon. She later left Coinbase to join a16z as a general partner, helping launch and scale one of the earliest and largest dedicated crypto venture funds in the world.
After working alongside many talented, entrepreneurial founders and builders, Kathryn Haun launched her own crypto investment firm, Haun Ventures, in 2022, aiming to help founders build the next-generation internet. The firm has already raised $1.5 billion to support the development of web3.0. According to RootData, Haun Ventures has made 12 investments since inception, backing prominent projects such as OpenSea and Aptos.
Morgan Beller, Partner at NFX, Co-Founder of Diem
Twitter: @beller
Morgan Beller graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in statistics and information science. She is a co-founder of Libra and served as the head of strategy for Novi, Facebook’s digital wallet for the Libra payment system. She originally joined Facebook in 2017, leading the company’s strategy on blockchain, cryptocurrency, and decentralized technologies. Prior to that, she led corporate development at Medium, overseeing the acquisition of Embedly and playing a key role in shaping Medium’s subscription strategy. Beller also served as a partner at a16z and as a product manager for buyer experience at eBay.
Morgan joined NFX, a venture capital firm focused on startups, in 2020 as a partner and head of its crypto investment fund. According to RootData, NFX has invested in 24 projects, including standout names such as Celestia and Sui.
Cheryl Liu, Co-Founder of Deeper Network
Cheryl Liu is an accomplished serial entrepreneur who graduated from the University of Wyoming in the U.S. and holds a Ph.D. in mathematical structures. Before entering the blockchain field, she worked in education and founded offline schools, gaining extensive entrepreneurial experience. After discovering blockchain, she founded Chainquan Technology Consulting Co., Ltd. in 2017, marking the beginning of her major endeavors in blockchain.
Cheryl Liu is also the marketing partner and co-founder of Deeper Network. As a Web3 infrastructure provider, Deeper offers enterprise-grade firewall protection, privacy safeguards, ad-blocking, and other features to users.
Marina Guryeva, Founder and CEO of Neon Labs
Twitter: @mariaveirug
Marina Guryeva has been actively involved in the blockchain space since 2015, serving as a director at CyberFund, a startup investing in blockchain companies. In 2019, she joined Commun, a blockchain-based social network, as director, leading a blockchain-powered social platform operated by autonomous communities.
In 2021, Marina founded Neon Labs, aiming to bring Solana’s scalability and low transaction costs into the Ethereum ecosystem. Before entering blockchain, Marina Guryeva had extensive experience in market PR and strategic planning.
Leah Wald, Co-Founder & CEO of Valkyrie
Twitter: @LeahWald
Leah Wald is an economist specializing in asset management. She graduated from the University of Haifa in Israel and studied international economics and Chinese at Peking University. She later earned master’s degrees in international politics and economics from Georgetown University and Pitzer College, and a master’s in management from IE Business School.
After completing her studies at IE Business School, Leah worked with NGOs, the World Bank, and in asset management. In August 2020, Leah founded Valkyrie, an asset management firm focused on digital asset economics, and in October 2021, she joined the board of Cypherpunk Holdings, a crypto investment firm listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
Additionally, Leah Wald is a contributor to Forbes and co-authored the book "Hyperwave Theory: Rogue Waves in Financial Markets."
Linda Xie, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Scalar Capital
Twitter: @ljxie
Linda Xie is co-founder and managing partner at Scalar Capital. Previously, she was an early employee and product manager at Coinbase, building internal tools including compliance, fraud detection, and financial systems. Before joining Coinbase, she worked as a portfolio risk analyst at AIG and served as an advisor to 0x. Linda holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from UC San Diego.
Linda Xie co-founded Scalar Capital, a hedge fund focused on crypto assets, with Jordan Clifford in 2017. According to RootData, Scalar Capital has invested in a series of high-profile projects including YGG, Aztec, dYdX, and Aleo.
Galia Benartzi, Co-Founder of Bancor
Twitter: @galiabenartzi
Galia Benartzi is a serial tech entrepreneur. She holds a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from Dartmouth College and a master’s in international economics from SAIS, Johns Hopkins University.
After graduating in 2005, Galia co-founded Mytopia, a social gaming company for smartphones; in 2010, she founded Particle Code, a cross-platform mobile development technology later acquired by Appcelerator; in 2013, she moved from Silicon Valley to Tel Aviv, serving as a venture partner at Founders Fund, supporting and investing in Israeli tech innovation. In March 2017, she co-founded Bancor, a decentralized on-chain automated market maker (AMM) protocol. Galia Benartzi is also a founding member of Powder Mountain, passionate about distributed technologies, women’s empowerment, natural health, and plant-based living.
Rebecca Liao, Co-Founder and CEO of Saga
Twitter: @beccaliao
Rebecca Liao studied economics at Stanford University and attended Harvard Law School, practicing law for several years. She previously served as Director of Business Development and Head of Asia at Globality, a B2B unicorn, and worked on Clinton’s foreign policy team focusing on technology policy. She co-founded Skuchain (annual transaction volume exceeding $5 billion, named by the WTO as one of the top three blockchain companies in trade and supply chain finance), serving as advisor and former COO.
Rebecca currently serves as an advisor to Sommelier Protocol, designing its DAO structure. She is also a researcher at Stanford’s Program in Law, Science, and Technology and hosts the global-public-policy podcast.
Rebecca founded Saga in early 2022. The protocol reimagines how developers and end-users interact with blockchains, emphasizing scalability, sovereignty, and ease of setup, making launching a dedicated blockchain as simple as deploying a smart contract.
Grace Wang, Helena Gagern, Co-Founders of Salsa
From left to right: Helena Gagern, Grace Wang
Salsa is a Web3 messaging platform that uses on-chain data to personalize emails and in-app messages. Users can customize their announcement experiences, and community administrators can send secure messages via a wallet-to-wallet messaging protocol.
The two co-founders behind the company, Grace Wang and Helena Gagern, are both women. Grace Wang attended the University of Pennsylvania and later worked in software development and management at Palantir and Primer AI. Helena Gagern graduated from University College London, a serial entrepreneur with rich experience in software development and product design.
Imge Su Cetin, Founder & CEO of Defy
Imge Su Cetin is a data scientist dedicated to using online search and social media data to predict global migration patterns at IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre in Berlin. She attended graduate school at UC San Diego, specializing in applied data science and statistical analysis, and is proficient in statistical and analytical tools and software.
In 2019, Imge Su Cetin joined the Deep Decarbonization Initiative (D2I), serving as a researcher in a program co-established by UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering and School of Global Policy and Strategy. In 2020, she joined the International Organization for Migration (IOM – UN Migration) as a data scientist. In April 2021, she officially founded the investment trend data platform Defy.
Séraphie de Tracy, Co-Founder & CEO of Cohort
Séraphie de Tracy holds a Master in Management from HEC Paris and a CEMS double degree. She brings extensive experience in enterprise SaaS services, having served as Chief Operating Officer, VP of Growth Operations, and Sales Director at fintech company Stratumn, and as a senior strategy manager at AXA Global P&C, one of the world’s largest insurers. She also worked as a consultant at Roland Berger, a top-tier strategic management consulting firm.
In May 2022, Séraphie de Tracy founded Cohort, a NFT-based digital engagement platform, and serves as its CEO. Cohort is a France-based Web3 SaaS solution that uses NFTs (non-fungible tokens) to help brands create innovative experiences and products without technical expertise or significant time commitment. Through integrations with platforms like Salesforce and Shopify, Cohort removes adoption barriers with its “no-code, no crypto, no wallet” approach, making Web3 accessible to all brands and customers.
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