Okcoin, one of the world’s fastest-growing cryptocurrency platforms, today announced the inaugural recipients of the company’s grant program for bringing more women into crypto: Bitcoin for Fairness and Ladies in Bitcoins. Each entity reflects the focus areas Okcoin has outlined for making cryptocurrency more inclusive—learning, building, and connecting—with the recipients’ work spanning across education, blockchain development, career mentorship, and more. As part of this initiative, Okcoin has also kicked off partnerships with Emmy-winning journalist Natalie Brunell, host of the top-ranking “Coin Stories” podcast, and Randi Zuckerberg, the company’s inaugural brand advisor, and more.

Women make up only 4 percent of crypto entrepreneurs according to Coin Head research, and less than 30 percent of Okcoin customers are female—a gender gap that outweighs traditional investments like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. To address this, Okcoin recently set a goal of having a 50 percent female customer base by 2025, in addition to allocating $1 million for diversity-oriented grants.

“Web3 is still young enough for women to get involved at the ground level and lead the next generation of innovation, which will be defined by digital assets, decentralized finance, and NFTs,” said Hong Fang, CEO of Okcoin. “We’re excited to support Bitcoin for Fairness and Ladies in Bitcoin in making this possible. Crypto adoption may be lower among women right now, but with education, career resources, and community support, we can change this.”

Members of underrepresented populations can apply at okcoin.com/cryptoforall for developer or project grants to support crypto-oriented work. To date, Okcoin has granted over $1 million to Bitcoin Core developers, who volunteer time to build the Bitcoin blockchain, ensuring the asset’s use is accessible to anyone.