Queering the Blockchain with Maiden Global

The blockchain is having a moment. Bitcoin’s meteoric rise to $4,683 has meant that more people are paying attention to digital currencies, often called cryptocurrencies, and even your uncle or former babysitter might be investing in lesser-known coins like Ether, Litecoin, and Ripple [Disclosure: I own some Ether and Golem].

Though initial coin offerings have garnered attention (and raised tech firms and investors large sums of money), the technology behind blockchain businesses is actually more important, as it allows for greater transparency, security, and accuracy for all kinds of transactions without a bank or broker.

While Bitcoin lets you transfer cash accurately and securely, other platforms can track basically anything—where your fish was harvested, who downloaded the song you recorded, whether or not a parent read the letter you sent home with a student.

By allowing digital information to be distributed but not copied, blockchain technology created the backbone of a new type of internet. Originally devised for the digital currency, Bitcoin, the tech community is now finding other potential uses for the technology.

Amid this buzz, Raine Revere and Shira Frank are looking for queer blockchain entrepreneurs to step up. And to do it now.

Affirming Diverse Intelligence

“Imagine if when email came out,” Shira said, “only gay, queer, and trans people had access to it for the first five years.”

She sat across from me with bright blue hair, enjoying an Americano, eyebrow arched at the potential of LGBTQ people participating in and benefiting from this new industry.

“In previous economic revolutions, [few LGBTQ people could] get in on the ground floor. At this point, there is the possibility that if we gain access to the tools that will soon run the economy, we could be the ones directing, leading, managing that economy.”

This spring, Shira joined the Denver Blockchain Meetup and quickly found work due to her fundraising and networking skills. Her new job wasn’t ideal, however.

“I was working with these guys,” she explained, “and the collaborative space felt narrow and limited and unintelligent, frankly. So I finally threw up my hands and said, ‘If I don’t meet more women, I’m out. Where are they?’”

That led her to Raine, whose long black hair frames a confident smile.

“What brought us together was connecting with other women in the blockchain space,” Raine says, “and the implicit power of naming one’s identity and [seeing] people for who they are.”

Raine’s software development for ShapeShift, a major blockchain company, led her to invest early on in Ether. With capital from that investment and her and Shira’s shared vision for greater economic opportunities for women, people of color, and LGBTQ people, they’re launching Maiden Global.

“We trust in the power of diverse intelligences that come from diverse experience,” Shira explained, “but if diverse people don’t have access, they can’t offer that intelligence. Maiden doesn’t see exactly how the world will be when LGBTQ [people] have greater economic power, but we see that the world will be a better, more intelligent place.”

Cultivating Diverse Skills

Maiden Global plans to mentor both software developers and laypeople. If LGBTQ programmers want to learn, Maiden aims to provide blockchain education and connect them to people in their networks. However, if someone doesn’t see coding in their future, they can still receive investment education and business incubation from Maiden.

Raine believes that anyone can learn basic investing and even cryptocurrency day trading, and Maiden Global plans to offer initial crypto funds to individuals who don’t have economic access.

“It’s really important that the way we’re helping people is actually increasing accessibility.”

Additionally, as an incubator, Maiden Global plans to provide equity investment, coaching, and business consulting to women, queer people, and people of color who want to integrate blockchain tech into their businesses or bring it to their industries.

Some may feel hesitant to invest or participate in cryptocurrencies. Raine pointed out that, just like the ‘90s dotcom boom, the cryptocurrency industry has its bubbles.

“Imagine if you were learning JSS, Javascript, and html during the internet bubble,” she posed. “When the bubble broke, you still would’ve had incredibly powerful skills that the market demanded. The real invitation is not for people in the LGBTQ community to invest their limited funds in something they don’t understand. It’s to invest in skills that are going to be viable in the new economy.”

Maiden Global is hosting events in the Denver metro area on Oct. 8 and Nov. 16. You can sign up for the Maiden Challenge and receive updates for future trainings at www.maiden.global.