Coinbase CEO hosts all-male founders dinner on International Women’s Day

Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong recently hosted a “build back better” dinner with some of the industry’s most notable names in New York. However, Crypto Twitter noted that only men were there on International Women’s Day.

The guest list was impressive. Among the attendees were Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of AAVE; Robert Leshner, founder and CEO of Compound; Ryan Selkis, founder and CEO of Messari; Fred Ehrsam, co-founder of Paradigm; Charles Cascarilla, CEO of Paxos; and Jonathan Levin, co-founder of Chainalysis.

But while Armstrong may have been celebrating his industry’s successes, not everyone was on board with his enthusiasm. 

Twitter users quickly criticized the lack of diversity at the event, with some calling out the exclusion of women, especially on International Women’s Day.

Moreover, some noticed not only the lack of women. Ryan Gorman, the founder of Gorman Strategies consulting, said that there’s more to crypto than ‘just white dudes.’

Of course, Armstrong’s dinner wasn’t just a gathering of crypto bigwigs to pat themselves on the back. The industry has been at odds with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for years, and Armstrong’s previous tweets only signify how taxing the situation is.

Moreover, hours after hosting this dinner, Armstrong once again emphasized his growing concerns by retweeting Paul Grewal’s tweet citing “the need for a workable crypto regulatory framework”

Armstrong’s dinner was a clear message that plenty of crypto companies are doing things by the book and are willing to work with regulators to ensure the industry’s legitimacy.

It’s easy to focus on the negative headlines and bad actors in crypto, but it’s important to remember that some companies are still doing things right. Hopefully, this dinner will inspire others in the industry to follow suit and work towards a more compliant and legitimate future for crypto.