Crypto continues to see greater adoption around the world, with a major shift likely to come after the latest market downturn. Some of the upside impetus could actually be triggered from a group of market participants not currently a big part of the space – women.
Survey reports have shown that women currently make up only a small percentage of investors in crypto.
For instance, an CNBC survey in August last year revealed that male involvement in crypto was more than double that of women – 16% for men crypto compared to 7% for women. The gap is also pretty much the same in the Exchange-Traded Funds market, statistics showing a 14%:7% ration in favor of men.
So, what happens if the crypto space saw increased adoption by women?
According to venture capitalist Tim Draper, it would catalyze crypto’s next bull run. In his opinion, shared during a podcast with Scott Melker, this has the potential to push crypto prices to a new peak.
But the billionaire investor says there’s something that needs to happen before we see a narrowing of the gender disparity – more store owners need to accept payments in Bitcoin (BTC).
Bitcoin could ‘blow right through’ $250k
According to Draper, Bitcoin represents a great payment method for most stores, which he noted, have low operating margins. Adding support for BTC payments thus allows them to tap into low transaction fees while providing fresh ways to incentivize customers.
While transaction costs for Bitcoin average $1.4 (check BitInfoCharts), the cost is way higher for merchants and customers using Visa and MasterCard. On average, in-store transactions with credit cards cost up to 2.9%. Fees range around 3.5% for online purchases.
These are costs stores could avoid if they choose Bitcoin, adding that further benefits would come from increased customers. Women control roughly 80% of the retail spending power.
Draper’s prediction if a higher percentage of women began using Bitcoin? He is holding up for a potential bull market that could “just blow right through” his earlier forecast of $250,000.
More women entering the Bitcoin Market
Crypto adoption remains on a slow ascent, with Morning Consult showing that just 2% more Americans (from July 2021) said they own cryptocurrencies (now 24% of US adults).
The data intelligence firm did however find an interesting trend in another survey – women make up 30% of all Americans who say they own crypto. The numbers are higher compared to early 2021 and align with findings in Australia where exchange usage among women was reported to have soared 175%. That’s more than double that of men at 80%.
And it’s not just more women coming into crypto, they are making higher initial deposits compared to men at an average of $2,381 versus $2,060.
Evidently, there are more women coming into crypto and trading and Draper says this adds to the positive outlook for Bitcoin. A lot of the positivity relates to increased support for the flagship cryptocurrency as a payment method by merchants and online stores.
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