KUALA LUMPUR: Luno, a regulated digital asset exchange in Malaysia shared that its female users have grown from 16,000 in 2020 to more than 120,000 in 2021, an increase of more than sevenfold.
Luno Malaysia marketing manager Scarlett Chai, during a panel insight session said that based on Luno's female Malaysian user activity in 2021, the company detected that the transaction volume of female users has increased twelve times year-on-year (YoY) from RM170 million to over
RM2 billion, indicating a positive trend of digital asset investment among women in Malaysia where most female users in Malaysia buy cryptocurrencies for investment while the rest are for trading, sending and receiving, and payment.
"Digital assets offer opportunities to improve on the traditional financial system. For women, this new financial system can mean financial inclusion and empowerment to harness their value. Hence, it is heartening to see many Malaysian women investing in digital assets. As a result, more women are beginning to realise the advantages of digital assets in helping them achieve financial independence," said Chai.
She also shared that the majority of female users are from diverse career backgrounds, including education, healthcare, accounting, occupation, administration, and manufacturing where most of the transactional activities came from the 30-39 age group (33 per cent), followed by 25-29 years old (25 per cent), 18-24 years old (17 per cent), and 40-49 years old (16 per cent).
During the session, Chai was also joined by local motorsports athlete, Leona Chin where the two shared their experience being in industries that see limited participation among women.
Chin, who is also a Luno user, said she started learning more about crypto investments during the pandemic due to restrictions to help her generate extra income.
"Just like motorsports, you need to learn and master a certain skill set to be successful, same goes with crypto investment and trading. Learn as much as you can and when you are ready you can start investing or trading. I too learn from Luno. At first I was just listening to the explanations and once I've gained enough knowledge, I started my journey," said Chin, adding that Luno has a webinar series for women, a good place to learn, exchange views as well as network with others in the crypto female community.
According to Chai, the company is beginning to see more women actively exploring other means of savings and investments, thus the growing number of female users seen on Luno.
"We want to create a safe space for women to learn about digital assets. Our goal is to encourage even more women to participate in this exciting space.
"At Luno, we are committed to educating the public on the power of digital assets as an alternative investment. This initiative has helped grow awareness of digital assets among a much wider audience. In addition, we have made our platform more accessible and inclusive by organising a series of educational webinars tailored for women, the Women-in-Crypto series.
"As women become involved in digital assets, there's a huge opportunity for companies to create a truly inclusive and equal platform. We have seen before that when women lead, the interests of marginalised groups are more likely to be considered. This is a chance for parity in female representation and better inclusion for all," said Chai adding that no technology or finance background is needed in order to become involved in digital assets.