A new survey shared with Cointelegraph found that the percentage of Australian women who own crypto assets doubled last year.

The Independent Reserve of 2000 Australians’ Cryptocurrency Index (IRCI) in 2021 found that the number of women who have invested in cryptocurrencies currently or before has increased from 10.3% in 2020 to 20% in 2021. The proportion of female Bitcoin owners has also risen from 8.3% to 14.8% according to the survey.

Independent Reserve is an Australia-based cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2013 and has more than 200,000 users.

Karen Cohen, deputy chairman of the Australian Blockchain Council, said that as asset classes continue to become mainstream investments, more women are entering the crypto market this year. In an interview with Cointelegraph, she said:

“I think it tells you that investing in crypto is less risky, and it’s just one of many different ways you can invest. I think this sends a signal to some extent that if the bank thinks it’s okay, then you know This is a safer place to invest.”

Cohen cited such examples CBA adds crypto trading options Visited its app in early November.

Adrian Przelozny, co-founder of Independent Reserve, added: “Over time, as cryptocurrency investment becomes more acceptable and mainstream, the perceived risk will also decrease.”

He added: “I think when this happens, you will see more and more women enter the market.”

Grayscale’s research from 2019 shows that Women are more inclined to avoid risks Investors, this is usually considered to be the reason for the gender difference between female and male cryptocurrency investors.

ICRI also found that women are more likely to listen to the opinions of family and friends about cryptocurrencies. 56.7% of the women surveyed said that they would enter the cryptocurrency market based on the recommendations of their family and friends, while 42.2% of the men surveyed said.

Cohen said: “Many women get recommendations from friends and family, so they feel it’s safer to participate.”

On the other hand, 45.9% of men said that they would consider entering the cryptocurrency market due to interest triggered by media reports, compared with 41.8% of women surveyed.

Bridging the gender gap

Cohen said that looking ahead, she expects that overall gender equality among cryptocurrency investors will still be “still a while” because it is entangled with gender stereotypes and the way women grow in understanding risk and investment.

Przelozny agreed, saying that he could not predict when the investment gap would shrink. He said: “As for when it will become 50/50, I don’t know. But I think it must be moving in the right direction.”

Cohen also stated that as Metaverse and blockchain games begin to dominate the crypto market, users can expect “the situation to completely change again.”

“Is the game more like a boy’s club compared to cryptocurrency?” she asked, concluding that “no one really knows.”

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exist Last year’s IRCI report, Cohen urged decision makers in the crypto industry to include women in events and panel discussions, and said “we are what we see.”

IRCI is an annual cross-sectional survey of more than 2,000 Australians conducted by PureProfile. The independent reserve stated that its sample reflects the country’s gender, age, and geographic distribution.