As her very first investment, Camille Requiestas impulsively chose to put $500 into bitcoin.
Two weeks after making the investment in November, the price of bitcoin surged from $8,000 per coin to $20,000 per coin, according to The Wrap. Requiestas, a 28-year-old TV reporter in California, told The Wrap she excitedly watched her investment grow.
Requiestas is part of the growing number of Millennials choosing digital currency over traditional investments. A third of 18- to 34-year-olds would rather own $1,000 worth of bitcoin than $1,000 of government bond or stocks, according to a survey from Blockchain Capital. In addition to giving Millennials alternative investment options, cryptocurrency is opening up new opportunities for women in the financial industry.
"Bitcoin's anti-establishment roots and decentralized system brings with it the hope for a new economy that puts people over corporations," Julia-Carolin Zeng, spokesperson for BitcoinSportsbooks.com, told MarketWatch. "This is an extremely appealing message to Millennials who watched their job outlooks dwindle as the financial crisis unfolded in tandem with their first-ever entry into the job market."
The world of digital currency, which is worth about $460 billion, started eight years ago with a heavily male domain, but it's becoming more inclusive, Bloomberg reports. In 2017, four of the 30 cryptocurrency ventures that led the largest fundraising rounds had female co-founders, double the number of women leading the 30 technology companies with the largest initial public offerings last year, according to Bloomberg.
"We have an opportunity to rebuild the financial system," Galia Benartzi, co-founder of Bancor, which raised $150 million in June, told Bloomberg. "Are we going to do it with all guys again?"
Virtual currency first turned heads within inner tech and finance circles, both male-dominated industries, per the Financial Times. Early word spread on Reddit and video game forums, which also had mostly male bases.
Nearly a decade later, men continue to outnumber women in cryptocurrency. Wallet service Uphold reports its users are 75 percent male, while bitcoin tracking site Coin Dance found 97 percent of engagement in the bitcoin community comes from men, according to the Financial Times.
Meltem Demirors, director of development for cryptocurrency investment company Digital Currency Group, told Bloomberg women in the industry don't always get the credit they deserve. She was once referred to as a "random marketing chick" early in her career.
"I truly believe a lot of the women are the ones who are actually doing a lot of the hard operational, strategic work," Demirors told Bloomberg.
Bitcoin today is trading at around $11,500, according to CoinDesk. Anyone can purchase bitcoin using a cryptocurrency wallet, CNN Money reported. Wallets are set up through currency exchanges such as Coinbase and Bitstamp, and bitcoin can be bought in fractions up to an eighth of a coin, according to CNN Money.
Despite its growing popularity, bitcoin remains a risky investment as the price frequently fluctuates. Gregory La Blanc, professor at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, told The Wrap that the uncertainty of cryptocurrency makes it all the more appealing to young adults, who are more likely to take financial risks.
"Everybody wants to be in on the next new thing. Everyone wants to be at the forefront, and no one wants to be a follower," La Blanc said. "[Cryptocurrency] offers a lot of excitement, and that's exactly what you need if you're going to build something up. You need a little bit of irrationality, of over-optimism. That's why we have young people in the first place."
