The Future of Finance Can’t Just Be a Rebrand of the Past
It all begins with an idea.
In the industry claiming to build the "future of finance," companies with all-male founding teams receive 99% of venture funding.
“Women are still seen as less valuable than men,” the Princess of the Netherlands told me during a gathering at their embassy in San Francisco. She didn’t say it dramatically. She just said it. And it landed like a truth we all know—but rarely say out loud. And in Web3—a space that claims to be rewriting the rules of money—that same old story is playing out all over again.
TradFi—traditional finance—was created by men, for men.
It’s not just about who holds the power. It’s about who the system was designed around: the risk appetite, the language, the culture, the assumptions. When women enter that space, we’re told to “man up.” And when we do? We’re labeled difficult, cold, or inauthentic.
But this problem runs deeper than work culture. Financial literacy—knowing how to earn, invest, and grow wealth—has been held back from women for generations. Whether by design or default, it’s had the same effect: women often end up under-informed, excluded, or financially dependent.
Money = Freedom
I grew up in Sweden, a country that—while not perfect—instilled in me a vision of what’s possible when women are empowered. That lens made it impossible to ignore the barriers women still face in most of the world. Especially in finance. Because money affects everything else.
One of the top reasons women stay in abusive relationships is financial dependence. If that doesn’t make financial literacy a life-saving skill, I don’t know what does. Teaching a daughter how to invest might be one of the most powerful things a parent can do. It gives her not just money—but choice, confidence, and freedom.
Crypto: Still a Boys’ Club?
We are at the starting line of something new: Web3, crypto, decentralized finance. It’s an opportunity to rebuild the system—free from corruption, runaway inflation, and the layered barriers that continue to hold women back.But if we’re not careful, we’re going to copy-paste the old structures into this new space.
Right now, only 26% of crypto holders are women. Less than 10% of Web3 leadership roles are held by women. And most crypto meetups? Still uncomfortable, still male-dominated, still laced with microaggressions—intentional or not.
At the 100+ events I’ve hosted to help women learn about crypto, around one in three ended up investing. Not because we hyped it. But because we created a space where finance felt safe, accessible, and—even fun.
Risk-Averse ≠ Risk-Avoidant
Yes, women tend to be more risk-averse. That’s not a flaw. In fact, research shows women investors often outperform men, largely because they trade less, stay calmer in downturns, and focus on the long-term. The real challenge? The culture. The way finance is still sold—loud, fast, intimidating—keeps people out who might actually do better within it.
Building a New System—For Everyone
That’s why I co-founded Marian—a platform intentionally designed with women in mind. It’s inclusive of everyone, of course. But compared to the 99% of platforms built by men, for men, Marian is engineered around female risk profiles and female culture. It’s not just about investing—it’s about belonging.
And then there’s Bitchcoin—our “f*ck it” sisterhood community. It’s a satirical, joyful, take-up-space project where we laugh, learn, and call out the absurdity of being underestimated. Finance doesn’t have to be sterile. It can be cultural. Emotional. Human.
This Is Bigger Than Investing
Beyond individual wealth, the future of finance holds something even more powerful: tools to remove corruption. Transparent ledgers, decentralized systems, code you can audit—all of this offers real solutions to one of the most dangerous poisons of our time.
Corruption weakens democracies. It robs resources. It erodes trust. Web3 gives us the chance to rebuild systems that are harder to rig and easier to trust. But that future won’t happen on its own. We need more diverse minds, more values-driven builders, more people who actually care about leaving a better system behind.
This Isn’t About Left or Right. It’s About Fairness & Financial freedom.
Crypto is becoming politicized, and that’s a problem. It keeps people out who don’t “identify” with the loudest voices in the room. But the future of money shouldn’t be owned by any one group—or ideology. This is about access. About fairness. About making sure the new world doesn’t shut out the same people the old one did.
What Keeps Women Out?
Let’s be honest about the barriers:
Cultural bias: Dads give their sons stocks. Daughters? Not as often.
Risk culture: Women don’t FOMO into volatile markets—but when given the tools, they show up.
Unwelcoming environments: Showing up to crypto meetups as a woman often means getting sized up, not taken seriously.
Language: Phrases like “wife-changing returns” make it clear who the room was built for.
These aren’t “women’s problems.” They’re design problems. Cultural defaults that keep us from building better systems.