Emerging voices: The remarkable women building a better Web3 (Part 2)

As Women's History Month comes to a close, we wanted to highlight even more amazing women who are shaping the future of Web3. Our recent feature "Emerging voices: The remarkable women building a better Web3" sparked so much positive response that more inspiring builders reached out, eager to share their own journeys and insights.

As we highlighted before, the gender imbalance in Web3 leadership remains significant, but what's more important are the people working to change that reality. They're bringing fresh perspectives, unique approaches, and genuine innovation to blockchain — which ultimately creates better experiences for everyone involved.

In this follow-up, we'll hear from women who found their way into Web3 through different doors — from pandemic-era NFT exploration to DeFi summer on Clubhouse, from problem-solving necessity to professional pivots. Each journey is unique, but they share common threads: curiosity, resilience, and a vision for what Web3 can become.

Meet our contributors

Before diving into their experiences and insights, let's meet the remarkable women contributing to this follow-up feature:

Alix Musset is the Ecosystem Lead at Aptos Labs, where she bridges the gap between physical and digital assets. With a background in fashion, Alix brings a unique cross-industry perspective to Web3.

Kim Currier is Head of Marketing and Partnerships at Decentraland, where she helps individual creators and global brands establish authentic presence in virtual worlds. Her journey began during the pandemic when she discovered the possibilities of digital ownership through NBA Top Shot.

Ivy Astrix works as a freelance backend engineer and management consultant, specializing in Solidity development. After falling in love with crypto during DeFi summer on Clubhouse, Ivy has become a vocal advocate for women creating strong personal brands in the space.

Ana leads events at Lagrange, where she helps educate and connect Web3 professionals. Her journey began when her Web2 educational company pivoted to blockchain, presenting her with an exciting challenge that transformed her career path.

Vanina Ivanova heads marketing at Neon EVM, entering the crypto space not by design but by necessity — seeking blockchain solutions to existing problems. She stayed for "the challenge, the pace of innovation, and the vibes that keep on vibing."

Lindy Han is Business Development Lead at Enso, bringing her strong communication skills to Web3. Her journey began unexpectedly, when she discovered Bitcoin while searching for better payment solutions for her travel agency customers — a practical problem that led to a full career pivot.

Gillian Pua is Chief of Staff at Sovrun, where she focuses on making Web3 more accessible. Her journey began during the pandemic when she witnessed firsthand how blockchain games were creating economic opportunities in the Philippines, showing her the real-world impact this technology could have.

Entry points: Finding their way to Web3

Trading as a gateway

For Alix Musset, cryptocurrency trading opened the door to a much deeper journey. "I first discovered Web3 through trading," she explains. "I knew people who were full-time crypto traders and [they] started to talk to me about the different tokens and trading strategy."

"As the curious cat that I am, I wanted to understand what goes on in the backend and why it's even called blockchain in the first place," Alix says. This intellectual curiosity led her to research, learn, and eventually connect with others in the space.

Pandemic pivot

Kim Currier's Web3 journey began during the pandemic, when many aspects of daily life were in flux. "I was actually taking a break from my career as a marketer to be a stay-at-home mom, but was really missing intellectual stimulation in my day," she shares.

It was a family connection that provided her first exposure: "My brother kept talking about Top Shot and I was drawn into the idea of fans actually owning branded moments." This concept of digital ownership resonated with her, and soon she was exploring the broader implications of decentralization and community-driven platforms.

Clubhouse conversations

For Ivy Astrix, it was the social audio app Clubhouse that provided her entry at the height of "DeFi summer" — a period of explosive growth in decentralized finance projects. "I fell in love with crypto during the summer of DeFi on Clubhouse, and was lucky enough to find a job doing backend and Solidity engineering soon afterwards," she recounts.

Her attraction to the space was philosophical as much as technical: "I've always been a proponent of building parallel systems and crypto is the best example I can think of," Ivy says.

Professional transition

Ana's path into Web3 came through her existing work at an educational platform. "We focused on creating conferences and workshops for Web2 professionals in tech, helping them stay ahead of emerging trends,” Ana says. “Then, my company decided to pivot to Web3 and invited me to join the transition."

This professional opportunity came with significant learning challenges. "At the time, I knew almost nothing about Web3 — just that it had something to do with Bitcoin, NFTs, and the metaverse," she admits. Despite the steep learning curve, she embraced the challenge: "I dove headfirst into understanding the space, figuring things out as I went, and helping others do the same."

"I dove headfirst into understanding the space, figuring things out as I went, and helping others do the same."

ANA

Events Lead, Lagrange

A chance encounter

Vanina Ivanova's entry came through a different route: "I came into crypto by chance — the necessity to solve an existing problem led me to blockchain tech and Ethereum." What began as a search for solutions evolved into a career path as she discovered what makes the space unique: "I stayed for the challenge, the pace of innovation and the vibes that keep on vibing."

International payment solutions

For Lindy Han, Web3 emerged as a solution to a very practical business challenge. "I was running a travel agency and stumbled upon Bitcoin while searching for an efficient way to collect payment from international customers," she explains. "This was around 10-15 years ago. If you think the global fiat payment system is bad today, in those days it was much worse."

What began as research into a payment technology evolved into a deeper fascination that ultimately led to a complete career change: "As I researched more into this new technology, I got increasingly interested and so decided to YOLO into crypto full time."

Community connections

For Gillian Pua, entry into Web3 came through personal connections and real-world impact. "Friends around me were already deep in it and slowly started red-pilling me about tokens and NFTs during the pandemic — sending links, explaining concepts, handholding me, dragging me into Discords," she explains.

What truly captured her interest was seeing tangible social impact: "What made it click was seeing what happened in the Philippines during the pandemic. For the first time, Web3 wasn't just a niche internet concept — it was materially changing lives. Axie Infinity and other Web3 games became a way for people to earn, coordinate, and build communities in a time when everything felt uncertain."

This perspective shift was transformative: "It made me realize that Web3 could be more than speculative hype. It could be a catalyst for real change, especially in regions like ours."

These diverse entry points illustrate that there's no single "right" path to Web3. Whether through trading, social media, professional opportunity, or a chance encounter while solving problems, the door to Web3  is open through multiple avenues. What matters most is the curiosity to explore what lies beyond that first encounter.

Building confidence in a new space

Breaking into any emerging technology field comes with challenges, especially one as rapidly evolving as Web3. Our contributors shared candid advice on building confidence and establishing yourself in this dynamic ecosystem.

Own your space

Ivy's advice is powerful in its simplicity: "Don't make yourself small to fit in."

Instead of downplaying your expertise or conforming to existing norms, she encourages women to "create a compelling personal brand, know your value and shout it to the world." This approach recognizes that in a space where everyone is still figuring things out, confidence and self-advocacy are invaluable assets.

Embrace continuous learning

For Ana, accepting that you won't know everything immediately is key to building confidence. "Web3 can feel abstract and complex at times, and that's okay!" she shares. "Don't be afraid to ask questions — more than once if needed."

She emphasizes creating a systematic approach to learning, suggesting resources like AI tools for breaking down difficult concepts, educational platforms like SheFi, and curated content from sources like Epic Web3. This structured learning path helps build confidence through accumulated knowledge.

EpicWeb3 podcast, one of Ana's go-to podcasts. Source: EpicWeb3

Understand the bigger picture

From Vanina: "Study everything — the economics, the technology, the opportunity of crypto and blockchain — if you manage to get the big picture, you will be successful in the space."

This holistic understanding allows you to connect dots others might miss and provides a foundation for navigating the industry's complexity with greater confidence.

Connect with community

Community is and has always been central to Web3, and can help in building confidence. Alix emphasizes the importance of finding your people: "Get to know the technology and find a niche that's appealing to you within the space. Then find your people. After all, a big part of the industry is about community."

Ana suggests taking advantage of IRL events: "Begin locally — attend meetups, hackathons, and networking gatherings in your area. Then, if you get the chance, aim for major global events like Token2049, ETHCC, or ETHGlobal."

Follow your curiosity

Gillian emphasizes starting from personal interest rather than trying to understand everything at once: "You don't have to know everything to get started. Start with what genuinely interests you, and follow your curiosity from there. There's room in this space for so many different skill sets and perspectives."

She also echoes the importance of community: "Find community early. Being able to ask questions, share your thoughts, or just feel supported makes a big difference. And try to trust that your way of thinking has value — especially in a space that's still being shaped."

Prepare for intensity

Vanina keeps it real about the emotional ups and downs of the industry: "Brace yourself. Working in Web3 is an emotional roller coaster and you need to have thick skin to make it." Her honest take reminds us that in a space with so much volatility, building resilience is necessary.

This advice reveals a common theme: building confidence in Web3 isn't about knowing everything or being the loudest voice. It's about embracing curiosity, connecting with community, developing resilience, and most importantly, recognizing your unique value. There's room for diverse approaches and perspectives — something these women have leveraged to establish their own paths to success.

Future trends: Where Web3 is headed

What's coming next in Web3? Our contributors shared their excitement about emerging trends that could reshape the blockchain landscape and drive the next wave of innovation and adoption.

ZK proofs and AI integration

Ana is enthusiastic about zero-knowledge proofs (ZK) and artificial intelligence as transformative technologies. "ZK proofs are finally moving beyond theory and into real-world applications, solving some of Web3's biggest pain points — scalability, privacy, and security," she explains.

The integration of AI with blockchain particularly excites her: "The intersection of AI and Web3 is opening up entirely new possibilities, from AI-driven DAOs to on-chain AI agents that automate tasks, optimize smart contracts, and even create personalized DeFi strategies."

Marketing evolution

Kim sees a maturing marketing approach emerging in the industry: "Marketing is finally having its Web3 moment,” Kim says. “My timeline is filled with smart takes on branding and positioning, user research, onboarding, growth and it is evolving from the 'whitelist' partnership trades and the KOL shilling to a more mature, professional space."

She notes the development of specialized tools and communities focused on marketing: “We are also seeing the rise of Marketing tools, like Kaito and Addressable, and Marketing Cohorts, like Safary, which is going to continuously improve how we all grow our brands backed by data."

Kaito AI Pre-TGE Arena — a tool for discovering and analyzing Web3 content and users.  Source: Kaito

Infrastructure development

Vanina's focus is on foundational systems: "I'm excited about the effort to build the infrastructure for the new internet we are creating." Her perspective highlights the importance of solid technical foundations before widespread adoption can occur.

She also emphasizes the need for practical applications: "I would also like to see more consumer-facing apps that will bring the next big wave of normies to crypto." This dual focus on infrastructure and usability reflects a maturing perspective on what's needed for Web3 to reach broader audiences.

Consumer applications and financial tools

Alix is also looking forward to developments in applications for retail consumers, particularly around social platforms and payments. She also notes the growing importance of stablecoins: "Stablecoins have experienced significant global adoption, which shows a growing role in the financial ecosystem and should be interesting to track for cross-border payments and the overall DeFi ecosystem."

Technical infrastructure

While others are watching the flashier aspects of crypto, Ivy has her eye on the fundamentals: "Infrastructure like Privy. Memecoins are fun, but infrastructure that gains adoption and does useful things is the most exciting to me," Ivy says.

Privy, infrastructure. Source: Privy

Regulatory evolution

Lindy is optimistic about regulatory developments: "I'm excited that regulations are easing and that the general public is increasingly coming to accept crypto as a real technological and financial development." This perspective highlights how improved regulatory clarity could accelerate mainstream adoption.

Autonomous worlds and on-chain games

Gillian is particularly excited about developments in gaming: "I'm really excited about what's happening around Autonomous Worlds (AWs) and modular infrastructure for on-chain games. We're finally moving past the idea of 'Web3 gaming' as just asset ownership, and into a space where blockchain actually enables new types of game design."

She sees specific technical advantages: "Being on-chain unlocks things like player-driven economies, peer-to-peer wagering, user-generated logic, and AI-native agents — stuff that simply doesn't work in traditional game architectures."

Beyond gaming, she's watching social developments: "I'm also keeping an eye on on-chain social and user-owned data layers like Farcaster. We're slowly shifting toward a world where identity, value, and community are built natively on-chain, not ported over from Web2."

What stands out across all these perspectives is how varied they are — just like Web3 itself. Some are excited about cutting-edge tech like ZK proofs, others about better marketing or consumer apps. But they all share something important: a focus on building things that actually work and help real people.

Navigating challenges: Overcoming obstacles in Web3

Web3 can be tough to break into, especially for women. Here's a look at challenges our contributors faced, and the practical solutions they came up with.

Alix points out that the challenges in Web3 mirror other male-dominated industries: "At events people will often assume you're here with someone especially if you're well put together, as opposed to you being the guest."

Her solution is straightforward: "You have to be strongly opinionated and not hesitate to make your voice heard. Set strong boundaries, ladies!" And, "once you pass that initial screening, you have the advantage."

When Kim first joined in 2021, opportunities were limited: "Most opportunities for women leaders were to join 'women PFP projects' and 'women in Web3' Discord groups, and the only speaking opportunities were 'women in Web3 panels' where all they asked us about was being a woman in this space."

She explains the frustration: "Many of us here are actual leaders in our area of expertise yet there weren't many opportunities to showcase the real work being done or the knowledge we are bringing to the table."

Encouragingly, Kim has seen positive change: "I am happy to report that I was at ETH Denver this year and listened in on many panels both at the main conference and multiple side events and women were proudly sharing their expertise on important topics like GTM strategies, onboarding users, unlocking interoperability, onchain loyalty, composability, and so much more."

Ivy identifies a challenge familiar to many women in tech: "What many women in tech in Web2 also encounter, which is having to prove ourselves even after being invited into the room."

Her approach is grounded in inner confidence: "You just have to know you belong there and shove any imposter syndrome way down and always keep moving forward. It's a tough balance to strike and you'll only get there through experience."

Ana's challenge wasn't gender-specific but rather the learning curve itself: "One thing that does frustrate me is encountering a new concept or project that I just can't seem to grasp — which happens a lot in such a fast-moving space."

She found peace in accepting the learning process: "I've learned to be okay with not knowing everything right away. Web3 is evolving constantly, and no one has all the answers. I've embraced a mindset of continuous learning — taking things one step at a time, asking questions (even the same ones more than once), and giving myself space to absorb information gradually."

Vanina faced the challenge of being an early adopter: "I started out very early on, and back then there was nobody to learn from — I wish I had more mentors at the beginning, as this would have made my journey much easier."

Her experience highlights the importance of mentorship structures that are now developing for newcomers to the space.

Rather than dwelling on obstacles, Lindy takes a pragmatic approach: "Since I fall into none of those categories, there are certain things that are slightly more difficult to reach. However, instead of denying reality, I find the ROI is higher to accept it and work it to your advantage."

She leverages her natural strengths: "Females tend to be more sensitive, more relational, so I do business development, where there is a lot of communication skills involved."

Gillian's challenge came in finding her authentic leadership style: "One challenge I've had to work through is redefining what leadership looks like for me — especially in a space that moves fast and often rewards visibility, constant output, and being always 'on.'"

Her solution focused on authenticity and careful selection of environments: "Over time, I've learned to stay grounded in my own approach — one that's rooted in thoughtfulness and enabling others. I've also learned how important it is to be intentional about the spaces I choose to be in."

These women's stories show that while challenges exist, they can be overcome with confidence, persistence, and community support. Their experiences not only demonstrate personal resilience but also point to how the Web3 ecosystem can become more welcoming to all.

Better onboarding: Making Web3 more accessible

How can Web3 become more welcoming to women? Our contributors offer practical approaches that go beyond surface-level solutions.

Alix emphasizes representation with a crucial distinction: "Not siloing them and simply being put on the same level as men. Make it known they're being highlighted — not because of their gender, but because they are truly competent and remarkable."

Kim connects Web3 adoption to broader economic empowerment: "Historically, women have faced challenges in accumulating and inheriting wealth due to systemic inequalities. However, cryptocurrencies offer a new avenue for financial empowerment and women cannot be left behind again."

She highlights practical education through example: "I love that Emily Lai is filming herself onboarding her normie friends into this space and sharing it on social media to give everyone a glimpse into what it takes and the perspective of someone new."

Her solution is simple but powerful: "The best thing for all of us to do is to bring more women onchain. This industry is confusing, so being a trusted guide is important."

Ivy frames representation as a psychological anchor: "We need to have it as a north star, so when women walk into talks and conferences they can see themselves and know they belong."

Ana suggests meeting newcomers where they already are: "If we want more women to enter the space, we need to bring the conversation to platforms like Instagram and TikTok — where people are already engaging with content in a more casual, digestible way."

She emphasizes in-person connection: "Events are one of the best ways to connect, learn, and build confidence. Having women-led Web3 meetups, panels, and workshops creates opportunities for women to learn, network, and get involved without feeling like outsiders."

Vanina points to structured learning: "We need more initiatives like SheFi that are designed and optimized for bringing more women in, and helping them get a successful start of their Web3 career."

Lindy emphasizes the ripple effect of sharing experiences: "We never know who is going to be reading them —  maybe what we think is only a simple anecdote has a much bigger effect on someone else at the opposite side of the world." This focus on storytelling recognizes how personal narratives can inspire others to see themselves in Web3.

Gillian emphasizes recognizing existing contributions: "Many are building quietly in ops, strategy, product, and community roles. So one big step forward is simply making that work more visible, and showing that there isn't just one way to 'belong' in this space."

She advocates for more structured support: "I think support looks like intentional onboarding — not just throwing someone into a Discord and hoping they figure it out, but offering real context, mentorship, and pathways based on different strengths." She points to successful examples: "Communities like ARC, Pudgy Penguins, and SheFi have done a great job of creating spaces where women can ask questions, learn out loud, and have ample opportunities to be spotlighted."

The stat Kim shares from Gemini’s 2024 “State of Crypto” report makes the opportunity clear: "In 2024, only approximately 31% of global crypto holders identified as female." Increasing this number requires active effort across multiple fronts — from representation to education, from personal mentorship to expanding where Web3 conversations happen.

The path forward: Building Web3’s future together

As Women's History Month concludes, these builders show there's no single entry point to Web3. Trading curiosity, career transitions, problem-solving needs, and social connections can all open doors to this space.

Their collective wisdom reveals several key insights for anyone — especially women — looking to make their mark in this space:

• Build authentic expertise: Rather than trying to fit existing molds, focus on developing knowledge that makes your voice valuable and sought after.
• Find your community: Connecting with supportive peers and mentors can make all the difference when navigating challenges.
• Embrace continuous learning: In a space evolving this rapidly, being comfortable with not knowing everything is essential.
• Set clear boundaries: Asserting yourself and your expertise may be challenging at first, but it establishes the foundation for respect.
• Bring others along: As Kim suggests, one of the most powerful things we can do is personally guide more women into the space.

The future of Web3 depends on who builds it. As Alix points out, "The space is genderless and women have unique qualities to position themselves as leaders."  With talent, expertise, and vision like we've seen from these builders, Web3's future looks promising.