The Women in web3 Privacy collective wants to make crypto cypherpunk again

A new collective called Women in web3 Privacy is looking to make crypto cypherpunk again.

The group, which is officially linked with the “leading think-and-do tank” Web3privacy, aims to give women the tools and knowledge to navigate the largely male-dominated crypto industry.  

“There's been this resurgence of cyberpunk values right now in the web3 space. Everyone's shouting, ‘oh, be cypherpunk, blah, blah, blah,' but no one's actually teaching the values or educating people on the privacy tools,” Ann Brody, a PhD candidate at McGill University studying Ethereum culture, told The Block in an interview. 

“I saw that there was an actual need in this ecosystem because I feel like women’s privacy issues are a bit different than mainstream privacy issues,” Brody said.

The launch of the Women in web3 Privacy collective comes at a peculiar time for crypto culture, partly due to the once-apolitical industry’s growing political ambitions and the rise of projects like memecoins, which, according to Brody, seem to trivialize what could be useful technologies.

'Do the work'

To the extent that crypto has entered the mainstream, it is largely understood to be “a solution in search of a problem.” Even after a decade and a half, crypto still lacks well-defined use cases and a user base. 

It’s part of why industry thought-leaders have sought to recenter the conversation on crypto’s initial values. For instance, last year, an Ethereum creator published a manifesto calling to make “Ethereum Cypherpunk Again.”

“​​Stop throwing around the term cyberpunk aimlessly and actually teach people the values and the history, said Brody. "Be a mentor. Do the work.” 

Since its launch, the 40-member group has published explainers and guides, set up social media channels and organized educational events at the upcoming DevCon conference in Bangkok, Thailand. 

The group also offers to create guides based on adjacent areas, like conducting studies on period-tracking apps for women who live in regions that have banned abortion. 

“The tech space is still largely male-dominated, often imposing a particular style that others must conform to in order to be heard and succeed. WIP provides a space where women can learn, explore, and discuss in ways that feel more natural to them,” founding member Ais Connolly, head of privacy at TACEO, said.

'She's a work of art. It's a political statement.'

The group has also teamed up with an AI chatbot named Fiona to create educational content and answer questions. The pseudonymous artist Ooli, creator of Fiona, trained the bot on group chat messages with her friends, giving her a “really sassy” demeanor. 

“She just speaks her mind. She's not polite. Contrary to Siri, who's like an assistant, this one is not your assistant. She's a work of art. It's a political statement,” Brody said. 

"I hope that Fiona demonstrates that female AIs can exist beyond AI girlfriends,” Ooli said.  

“For privacy in crypto, there are major gaps in the adoption of a technological ideology that was meant to be the point of crypto,” a WIP member who goes by the mononym Park said. “Women seem to be leading the charge on bringing attention back to this problem and trying to get traction for the issue so that action can be taken around it.”