Every week in the past, CoinTelegraph printed a “ladies who kicked ass in crypto” piece by which just one non-American or non-European girl (Maya Parbhoe) was talked about.
As a result of I really feel that what’s occurring with Bitcoin in Africa, Latin America, The Center East and Southeast Asia — areas the place bitcoin is extra usually used as a foreign money and a cash of final resort — is much extra thrilling than what’s occurring in the USA and Europe, I’m right here let you know about some girls within the Bitcoin area from these areas who kicked ass in 2024.
Farida Bemba Nabourema — Nabourema is a long-time activist and human rights defender, initially from Togo. She’s additionally the first organizer for the African Bitcoin Convention, which, for the final three years, has offered Africans with an unimaginable alternative to current to and community with Bitcoiners from across the globe.
Reyna Chicas — Chicas is a Salvadoran was promoted to Director of Schooling for Mi Primer Bitcoin this 12 months, and he or she additionally sits on the group’s board of administrators. Her journey in Bitcoin began simply two years in the past when she went to the Adopting Bitcoin convention in El Salvador as an attendee.
Roya Mahboob — Mahboob is one in every of Afghanistan’s first feminine tech CEOs. She additionally based the Digital Citizen Fund, a non-profit geared toward enhancing technological literacy of Afghan ladies. This 12 months, she’s continued in her efforts to create IT facilities for women in excessive faculties throughout Afghanistan and likewise carry her schooling mannequin to varsities in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal.
Dea Rezkitha — Rezkitha is the Group Grasp for Southeast Asia for Fedi and co-founder of the Indonesian Bitcoin Group and the Indonesia Bitcoin Convention. Except for maintaining together with her duties for Fedi this 12 months, Rezkitha toured the world talking about her work at occasions just like the Oslo Freedom Discussion board and Bitcoin 2024.
Lorraine Marcel — Marcel, primarily based in Kenya, is the founding father of Bitcoin Dada, a digital Bitcoin schooling platform and sisterhood for African ladies. She was additionally awarded the Most Impactful African Bitcoiner of 2024 award by the African Bitcoiners group.
Kenyan Lorraine Marcel (@marcelorraine) is our Most Impactful African Bitcoiner of 2024!By way of @btc_dada and @DadaDevs she empowers leaders like @waithiraah, @LindaKariu54810, @noelynesumba and plenty of others, making a ripple impact which is altering Africa perpetually.Extra👇 pic.twitter.com/W84gicWVs1
— African Bitcoiners ⚡ (@afribitcoiners) December 11, 2024
Isabella Santos — Santos is a co-founder of the Mexican Bitcoin neighborhood BTC Isla, primarily based in Isla Mujeres in addition to a co-founder of the Bitcoin media outlet Get Based mostly (which lately launched a killer documentary entitled “How The Federal Reserve Secretly Enslaved The World”). Past that, she continued to tour the globe this 12 months because the host of Bitcoin Backstage, bringing you some juicy takes from backstage on the world’s greatest Bitcoin conferences.
Noelyne Sumba — Sumba, primarily based in Kenya, oversees “orange-pilling operations” for Machankura, a Bitcoin Lightning pockets that can be utilized on characteristic telephones. Additionally, in 2024, Saifedean Ammous’ traditional The Bitcoin Normal was printed in Swahili and Abdi because of Sumba’s assist in translating the textual content.
Hadiya Masieh — Masieh relies in London however was born to Mauritian and Ugandan mother and father. She’s the founding father of the Groundswell Mission, a corporation that works to foster peace and empathy amongst numerous communities. She gave a chat on the “Oslo Freedom Discussion board” this 12 months entitled “How Bitcoin Can Fund Counter-Terrorism”, by which she highlighted how she’s taught Somali ladies easy methods to use bitcoin for political fundraising to assist assist feminine candidates within the nation.
Janet Maingi — Maingi, primarily based in Kenya, is a co-founder of Gridless Compute, an organization that not solely mined bitcoin in Africa profitably this previous 12 months but in addition helped carry electrification to rural areas of the continent.
Mary Imasuen — Imasuen, who’s of Nigerian and Filipino descent and primarily based in Nigeria, is the International Advertising and marketing Supervisor for Fedi and a self-described “bitcoin-only gamer” who usually speaks in assist of THNDR Video games. Whereas Imasuen wasn’t touring the world discussing her work in 2024, you might hear from her as a podcast visitor or on a gaming stream.
Honorable mentions: Renata Rodrigues (Head of Advertising and marketing and Group at Fedi, initially from Brazil), Lorena Ortiz (Latin America Group Grasp at Fedi, primarily based in Mexico), Edith Mpumwire (Ugandan Group Supervisor for Bitcoin Dada and supporter of Bitcoin Kampala), Sabina Gitau (co-founder of Tando, primarily based in Kenya), Efrat Fenigson (host of the “You’re The Voice” podcast, primarily based in Israel)
And I’m going to provide a fast shout out to some dangerous ass girls who crushed it this 12 months from Europe, the U.S. or elsewhere: Caitlin Lengthy (the US-based CEO of Custodia Financial institution began a lawsuit in opposition to the U.S. Federal Reserve), Susie Violet Ward (the UK-based Bitcoin journalist and CEO of Bitcoin Coverage U.Okay. wrote extensively concerning the risks of over-regulating the Bitcoin business within the U.Okay. and Europe this 12 months), Stacy Herbert (the Director of El Salvador’s Nationwide Bitcoin Workplace (ONBTC), who enormously furthered the Bitcoin adoption and schooling efforts all through El Salvador), Lyudmyla Kozlovska (the Ukrainian activist labored to assist protect privateness in Bitcoin transactions by way of her group, the Open Dialogue Basis), Anna Chekovich (the Russian Bitcoin advocate from Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Basis additionally joined the Human Rights Basis’s Monetary Freedom staff), Umi Miyahara (the Japanese-American Enterprise Improvement Lead at Breez helped facilitate many new partnerships for Breez), DJ Valerie B Love (the US-based artistic launched an distinctive digital convention), NiftyNei (the technical-minded developer launched the Base58 schooling platform), Gloria Zhao (the Bitcoin core dev did a wonderful job in distilling how Bitcoin works), Ella Hough (this scholar helped Cornell College launch its first impartial Bitcoin-focused research program), Ayelen Osorio (the author, primarily based in Canada, launched the Human Rights Basis’s Monetary Freedom Report e-newsletter) and L0la L33tz (the impartial journalist did an unimaginable work in protecting privateness because it pertains to Bitcoin and crypto for her publication The Rage).
I do know there are an innumerable variety of ladies within the Bitcoin area who neither I nor CoinTelegraph acknowledged.
To these ladies, I apologize for not with the ability to suit you into this piece, however I thanks to your work and contributions to the Bitcoin area.
To find out about extra kick-ass ladies within the Bitcoin area, try Entry Tribe’s “Ladies in Bitcoin” group.
This text is a Take. Opinions expressed are completely the creator’s and don’t essentially mirror these of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Journal.