TL;DR
- CoinDesk’s Top 50 Women in Web3 & AI honors innovators driving convergence across blockchain and artificial intelligence.
- Featured leaders like Nkiru Uwaje, Yasmina Kazitani, and Daniela Amodei are not just reshaping markets — they’re unifying technologies and global ecosystems.
- The initiative underscores a larger truth: real innovation happens when men and women collaborate, combining technical expertise, diversity of thought, and ethical leadership.
- As blockchain and AI merge, inclusive innovation is essential to designing resilient, transparent, and high-impact systems.
Recognizing the Architects of Tech’s Inclusive Future
CoinDesk’s inaugural Top 50 Women in AI & Web3 list, announced in June 2025, is more than a showcase of exceptional leadership — it signals a cultural and strategic pivot toward collaborative, inclusive innovation. Chosen from over 300 nominees, these women were selected not merely for their influence, but for their tangible impact on technology and global equity.
As judge Julia Bonafede notes, this list isn’t about separating female contributions; it’s about highlighting the irreplaceable value women bring to the table — and the imperative to build technology together.
The Data
| Leader | Role & Contributions | Source |
| Nkiru Uwaje | Co-founder of MANSA, enabled $178M on-chain volume and $92M in real-world payments | CoinDesk Report |
| Daniela Amodei | Co-founder of Anthropic, created Constitutional AI, led firm to $61.5B valuation | Anthropic Press |
| Yasmina Kazitani | Co-president of Blockchain Game Alliance, driving Web3 ecosystems in Africa | BGA Website |
| Gracy Chen | CEO of Bitget, launched Blockchain4Her global gender equity initiative | Bitget Blog |
MANSA, Bitget, Anthropic: Proof of Impact, Not Symbolism
Take Nkiru Uwaje, for example. Through stablecoin-driven fintech, her startup MANSA has facilitated more than $92 million in real-time payments across Africa. She’s not just building a crypto solution — she’s creating economic inclusion at scale, particularly in underserved communities. Backed by Tether’s $3 million pre-seed and part of a $10 million round, Uwaje has transformed policy and payment landscapes across regions often overlooked by VCs.
Similarly, Daniela Amodei’s departure from OpenAI to co-found Anthropic was a turning point in AI governance. By championing Constitutional AI, she addressed safety risks and ethical gaps in large language models, pushing the entire sector toward accountable development. Her work culminated in major partnerships with Amazon ($8 billion) and the UK government, giving her team both scale and standards.
Building Together: A Convergence of Technology and Perspective
The reason this list matters isn’t just the achievements of individual women — it’s that these successes reflect a broader convergence. AI and blockchain aren’t isolated verticals; they are increasingly integrated layers of tomorrow’s tech stack.
In finance:
- AI enables predictive credit scoring
- Blockchain secures transparent lending platforms
In healthcare:
- AI assists diagnostics
- Blockchain secures immutable medical records
In gaming:
- AI builds smarter NPCs
- Blockchain powers ownership via NFTs and tokens
Yasmina Kazitani, through her partnerships with Lamina1 and Algeria’s ministries, isn’t just pushing African talent forward — she’s ensuring Web3 ecosystems are regionally adapted and culturally inclusive.
Where Events and Ecosystems Must Catch Up
Despite this progress, institutional support remains inconsistent. Proof of Talk 2025, the high-profile conference where this list was unveiled, failed to integrate these leaders into its main panel programming. This decision, while perhaps unintentional, suggests that even progressive platforms still risk reinforcing silos rather than breaking them.
Bonafede highlights the missed opportunity: “They weren’t showcased as essential voices across mixed panels. We must evolve from celebrating women separately to building together.”
What Inclusion Really Looks Like in Web3 + AI
Inclusion in Web3 and AI doesn’t just mean creating space — it means recognizing leadership as a collective output, driven by diverse teams, shared vision, and open-source principles.
Women like Gracy Chen embody this approach. As CEO of Bitget, she launched Blockchain4Her, a program that combines education, funding, and mentorship for underrepresented groups. Her leadership isn’t focused on gender optics — it’s about creating high-functioning ecosystems where innovation and equality co-exist.
These initiatives offer a blueprint for institutional change:
- Investors fund diverse teams because the returns are better
- Regulators draft frameworks informed by multi-perspective stakeholders
- Academia updates curricula to reflect real-time industry shifts in Web3 and AI
Not Separate Achievements — Shared Innovation
What makes this list powerful is not that it features women — but that it features technologists, creators, and builders. Period.
- Daniela Amodei isn’t a “woman in AI”; she’s a leader in AI safety.
- Nkiru Uwaje isn’t a “female crypto founder”; she’s a visionary in decentralized finance infrastructure.
- Yasmina Kazitani isn’t just representing gender diversity — she’s mapping Africa’s Web3 frontier.
And they are doing this alongside men, institutions, and communities equally committed to solving some of the world’s most complex problems.
The Path Ahead: Integration, Not Isolation
If the crypto and AI industries want to reach their full potential, they must embrace unified leadership frameworks. That means:
- Events must normalize gender-mixed panels
- VCs must track diversity as a risk-adjusted return driver
- Governments and think tanks must invite both technical and social innovation leaders to the table
The CoinDesk Top 50 women are not footnotes — they’re lead architects of decentralized, data-driven, and ethical innovation. Their presence is not symbolic — it’s foundational.
