Diversity and Inclusion Accountability Shifts To The Crypto Industry

The desire to harness the potential of diversity and inclusion has remained a top priority and a critical strategic agenda for many organisations around the world. The same goes for the Committee on Financial Services in the United States House of Representatives, which has diversity and inclusion as a core pillar of the US financial services system.

In a letter dated Aug 4, 2022, the Committee on Financial Services in the United States House of Representatives wrote to 20 of the major crypto, Web 3, venture capital firms with crypto investments, and digital asset companies within the US requesting data on diversity and inclusion within the digital assets industry.

The letter was sent to Aave, Andreessen Horowitz, Binance.US, Circle, Coinbase, Crypto.com, Digital Currency Group, FTX, Gemini, Haun Ventures, Kraken, OpenSea, PancakeSwap, Paradigm, Paxos, Ripple, Sequoia Capital, Stellar Development Foundation, Tether and UniSwap.

The letter read: “There is a concerning lack of publicly available data to effectively evaluate the diversity among America’s largest digital assets companies and the investment companies with significant investments in these companies. We believe transparency is a critical, first step to achieving racial and gender equity. That is why your participation in this snapshot is imperative in our efforts to understand how and whether the industry works toward a more equitable environment for everyone. We request that your company complete the attached questionnaire regarding your company’s diversity and inclusion data and policies from the calendar year of 2021”. 

The Committee on Financial Services in the United States House of Representatives has conducted prior surveys to gather data on diversity and inclusion in the US financial services system.

In 2021, the Committee on Financial Services in the United States House of Representatives requested data from America’s largest investment firms on their diversity and inclusion policies and practices. The committee concluded that more work needed to be made in areas of workforce diversity, board diversity, procurement diversity, asset management diversity and in the implementation of diversity and inclusion policies.

In a 2020 survey on diversity and inclusion in America’s large banks, the Committee on Financial Services in the United States House of Representatives established that. In contrast, some steps had been undertaken, there was still improvement required in the implementation of diversity and inclusion goals. 

Now it is the turn of the crypto industry to show accountability for diversity and inclusion. With federal crypto regulation still work in progress, it may not be surprising to find similar challenges within the crypto industry. The Committee on Financial Services expects the survey responses on diversity and inclusion in the digital assets industry by September 2, 2022.