Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have received a lot of media attention, but experts agree that their impact will go beyond selling digital artwork or tweets and alter how people communicate ideas forever.
Despite its promise of shattering the mold, the worldwide NFT market is just as pale, male and old-fashioned as the conventional art industry. The most recent statistics indicate only 16% of NFT creators are women — a startling gender disparity that reflects the underrepresentation of women in today’s NFT ecosystem.
According to a survey conducted by Art Tactic and published by Bloomberg, female artists accounted for only 5% of sales in the NFT market. In comparison, male artist creations made up 77% of sales (16% were unknown artists, and 2% were collectively created).
However, specific NFT projects are attempting to overcome the issue. Rarible is one of them. Rarible has prioritized supporting female-led NFT projects. Cointelegraph spoke with industry experts Masha Vyazemskaya, the Head of Communications at Rarible, and Rebekah Keida, Chief Marketing Officer at XBTO, about the gender disparity in the NFT space.
According to Vyazemskaya, the technology sector has always been a male-dominated one, which she believes “fosters a sense of intimidation for many women who want to enter the NFT space.” She adds:
“As the industry continues to mature, it is important that we champion our female artists and innovators, promoting and encouraging their work and giving them greater opportunity to shape the future of the industry.”
She describes the challenges faced by female creators when they first enter the NFT sector as based on “the broader technology industry.” According to her, “the traditional technology industry has historically always catered towards male ambitions and success, creating a misguided expectation that tech is primarily for men.”
Awareness, according to Vyazemskaya, is a crucial first step in encouraging more women to get involved in the NFT industry. As she puts it, by championing successful female creators…
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