Explore our new Generative AI Database, featuring 35+ companies leading the sector.Read more

From top, Brit Morin, Tyra Banks, Jaime Schmidt and Mila Kunis. Art by Haejin Park. Photographs AP and courtesy BFF.
From top, Brit Morin, Tyra Banks, Jaime Schmidt and Mila Kunis. Art by Haejin Park. Photographs AP and courtesy BFF.

‘The Boys Are Getting Loaded Rich.’ Now Women-Led Crypto Groups Demand Their Turn

A star-studded women’s collective joins other outsider groups fighting for their place in the Web3 landscape.

From top, Brit Morin, Tyra Banks, Jaime Schmidt and Mila Kunis. Art by Haejin Park. Photographs AP and courtesy BFF.
Feb. 4, 2022 12:30 PM PST

For Mila Kunis, the actress known for her starring roles in “That ’70s Show,” “Bad Moms” and “Black Swan,” the journey down the crypto rabbit hole involved a lot of lost sleep and some new gray hairs.

As she developed the adult animated series “Stoner Cats”, which launched last summer with a collection of non-fungible tokens that grossed $8 million in just 35 minutes, Kunis kept a notepad handy. In it, she would jot down strange terms, like “blockchain wallet” and The Sandbox, that seemed to ooze out of every crypto enthusiast she met. Then she’d stay up until 2 a.m. researching, and memorizing her new vocabulary.

When Kunis was approached late last year to join BFF, a new crypto collective for women founded by entrepreneurs Brit Morin and Jaime Schmidt, she was ecstatic—and relieved. “I was like, ‘Oh, my god, I don’t want to join another boy’s club,’” Kunis told a virtual audience of about 5,000 people last week at BFF’s first-ever event, Minted. The much-hyped launch of BFF offered newcomers a free two-hour crash course on crypto culture, including an introduction to the strange world of NFTs taught by Mark Zuckerberg’s sister, Randi (she compared the digital artwork to Chanel handbags), and words of encouragement from celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Kunis herself.

While BFF may be the only crypto club whose Discord group includes people who’ve won Oscars and MTV Movie Awards, it’s far from alone in trying to crack the boy’s club of Web3. In fact, in the last few months alone, several women- and minority-led organizations have launched, hoping to ignite a full-blown insurgency within the male-dominated world of crypto.

Access on the go
View stories on our mobile app and tune into our weekly podcast.
Join live video Q&A’s
Deep-dive into topics like startups and autonomous vehicles with our top reporters and other executives.
Enjoy a clutter-free experience
Read without any banner ads.
Art by Clark Miller
The AI Age e-commerce ai
How to Grease a Chatbot: E-Commerce Companies Seek a Backdoor Into AI Responses
When Andy Wilson’s company received its first successful client referral through ChatGPT, he was shaken to his core.
Chris Britt, co-founder and CEO of Chime.
Exclusive startups Finance
Chime’s Slowdown Highlights Limits of Bank Disruptors
Chime found a way to offer zero-fee banking services without being a bank itself. But that approach is starting to show its limits.
Art by Clark Miller.
Exclusive startups crypto
MoonPay CEO, Other Executives Cashed Out Before Crypto Business Dropped
In November 2021, just as crypto prices were hitting all-time highs, MoonPay—a crypto payments startup that celebrities including Jimmy Fallon and Paris Hilton had praised for its non-fungible token “concierge” service— announced it had completed its first ever outside fundraising: an eye-popping $555 million round at a $3.4 billion valuation from investors including Tiger Global Management and Coatue Management.
Art by Clark Miller
The Big Read markets Finance
The Master of Destruction Rides Again
In the spring of 2022, the irascible Wall Street short seller Marc Cohodes was in a particularly foul mood.
Tim Cook. Photo by Bloomberg
Exclusive apple ar/vr
Apple’s Learning Curve: How Headset’s Design Caused Production Challenges
If Apple unveils its long-awaited mixed-reality headset next week as expected, it will represent the company’s riskiest gamble on a new product since the iPhone.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Photo by Bloomberg
semiconductors ai
Why Nvidia Aids Cloud Rivals of AWS, Google and Microsoft
Nvidia’s business of selling chips for artificial intelligence is going gangbusters, but the company faces a looming problem.