How This Former Management Consultant Plans To Bring Crypto Literacy to the Mainstream

It was discovered in a survey last year that 98% of respondents could not pass a basic crypto literacy test. However, with increased crypto adoption in emerging and developed economies, the focus has started to shift to crypto literacy.

Recently, financial solutions company Step announced a $300 million debt funding, led by Triplepoint Capital and Evolve Bank & Trust, to expand into crypto investing while working on a national financial literacy curriculum.

Be[In]Crypto spoke to Unit Masters co-founder and former McKinsey consultant Thy-Diep Ta to understand more about crypto literacy and the transition to Web3.

Why is Web3 literacy in focus?

Thy-Diep Ta explained, “We think there are six different themes that are important for a holistic understanding of Web3. Each of these themes is a module in the Unit Masters six weeks program: The Internet of Value, The Web3 Ecosystem, Incentive Alignment (Consensus Mechanisms) & DAOs, Metaverse & NFTs, Stakeholder Capitalism & Sustainability, and Token Economy.”

After being a management consultant, Thy-Diep Ta launched Unit Masters as an online, flexible, and open to all free master’s program to impart education on modern economy and banking.

 “What is important is to understand the right level of abstraction. Each of these themes in themselves could be full six-week programs. For a person new to the ecosystem, we find that the greatest challenge is to stay away from getting lost in the rabbit hole.”

Thy-Diep Ta added that Unit Masters focuses on providing the foundational understanding and key terminology, so students can drive more profoundly in their areas of interest after graduation. 

“Our design principle is: Less is more!” 

How gender plays a role in Web3

Several past surveys have found that women’s participation, both as investors and creators, is far less than their male counterparts.

Thy-Diep Ta emphasized, “We have about 5-25% of women participation in Web3, depending on which data and sub-sector we look at. There’s a long way to go. For many women, the industry seems a bit geeky, maybe a bit too technical, too profit-oriented.”

A BlockFi Survey released last year noted that one in three women planned to buy cryptocurrencies during the year, while nearly a quarter already owned digital assets. And among those, the majority, 70%, were reported to be HODLers.

The same survey revealed that 50% of women make financial investment decisions based on conversations with friends and family.

At the same time, crypto adoption among women has been boosted by high-profile Hollywood celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon, and Mila Kunis.

Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) penalized Kim Kardashian for failing to disclose a payment she received in exchange for endorsing a cryptocurrency asset on Instagram.

Thy-Diep Ta believes, “Since Web3 is a fast-moving industry, it’s nearly hopeless to try to keep up with all recent developments. Hence, it’s more important to learn the foundations and then learn how to upskill in the areas most relevant to your interest.

“Blockchain literacy is important as it helps to differentiate the signal from the noise. It helps understand how to negotiate salaries. Being well educated also helps to protect oneself from scam projects.”

Learning in a fast-paced environment and tackling concerns

Recently, Google Cloud and Coinbase announced a long-term strategic partnership to develop more into Web3. Bank of New York Mellon, one of America’s oldest and largest banks, has also announced that it will safeguard customers’ cryptocurrency assets alongside traditional investment assets.

As that happens, the crypto and blockchain coach is bringing the experience from her former profession into the UNIT masters’ cohort program. She told us, “What I learned as a consultant is to learn how to learn and to familiarize myself with a new topic in the shortest amount of time possible.”

“When I left my management consulting career, I went to coaching school for a few hours a day for a few months. This was a very rewarding experience, in which I learned how to integrate the rational cognitive “How to learn” skills that I had acquired at McKinsey & Co, to the more emotional “How to sense.”

“I developed a ‘train the coach’ program called ‘Mindful Coaching,’ where I combined key aspects of Emotional Intelligence with Systemic Coaching elements. This is when I also met Web3 and was blown away by the opportunities this new industry gave to close the prevailing gender parity gap in the business world. I saw that every day in which we don’t onboard more women into the ecosystem was a day in which we would increase the gap!” Thy-Diep Ta added.

Building crypto literacy amid environmental concerns

Thy-Diep Ta told Be[In]Crypto that Unit Masters examined the most critical skills for the future, as listed by groups like the World Economic Forum, to incorporate into the course.

She added that you find skills such as “active learning and learning strategies,” “resilience and stress tolerance,” and “critical and thinking analysis” in these researches. 

“These are modeled into the Unit Masters Program, in which we do not only convey basic blockchain understanding, but we have designed the program to include a variety of methods that sharpen skills of the future. We have modules on mindfulness, resilience and personal development,” the former consultant said.

However, crypto carbon has been a matter of debate on platforms globally. Projects have been investing in carbon-neutral assignments or changing their mechanism to become more sustainable.

For instance, Ethereum recently made the final switch from an energy-intensive proof-of-work to a more sustainable proof-of-stake mechanism with the Merge.

In this regard, Thy-Diep Ta explained, “We have an entire module focused on Stakeholder Capitalism & Sustainability, where we invite mentors to share about the nearly endless possibilities that we still have to shape the industry in the way we feel it should evolve. Why is this?”

“It’s because we are still so early in the industry that every change-maker still has a relatively high impact. There are still many open questions where contributors can set the standards.

The more diverse the skill portfolio of the early contributors, the more ‘holistic’ the creation process. That’s why we focus on attracting talent from all continents, age groups, backgrounds to the Unit Masters Program. Together, we build the new economy,” the educator added.