The Plight of the Crypto Hottie Continues

I’m starting to see a trend. Follow me. Every crypto cycle brings a scandal and full-on discourse about women’s place in the industry. In 2021, it was the rise of female-focused DAOs and a determination to onboard as many partnerships as possible. In 2022, it was Caroline Elilson from Alameda Research, portrayed as the unlikely villain with her appearance scrutinized. In 2023, we witnessed the downfall of the female-founded "girl boss" archetypes. And now, in 2024, as we creep into the bull market, Iggy Azalea finds herself appealing to the male gaze—and succeeding at that. Moreover, celebrity meme coins have been cringe and unsuccessful at best. Those who tried, like Jason Derulo, failed miserably and became laughingstocks among the crypto libertarian elite.

As Violet Verse has covered the launch of $MOTHER token before, along with Solana Breakpoint and other crypto conferences, the former rapper-turned-crypto hustler is attempting to do something unprecedented: make crypto sexy. Let's face it, crypto is split into various audiences. There's the clean cut institutional side and then there's the risk-adverse, retail traders who DGAF side of the token. Two must exist to build the "DAO." 

But let's play devils advocate a bit. Branding-wise, since we’re talking about marketing trends, women have always been the leading consumers across fashion, plastic surgery, and luxury goods.

Since the $MOTHER coin has surpassed a $50M market cap and the degens are bullish.   So, it wasn’t a surprise that for Solana Breakpoint, she was invited to speak. And guess what? She did what any white male with her level of TVL would do—celebrated. The Telegram community chat is so nausty, throwing a party in the middle of Singapore, with strippers gives $MOTHER. 

The party was triggering for a lot of people, and Crypto Twitter made sure to express their concerns.

 On one side, some crypto women who have shared their experiences as strippers or former "304s" said they loved Iggy Azalea’s rodeo-themed party, claiming it was great for morale. Other “feminist-leaning” individuals thought it was completely raunchy, disregarding the women in crypto who are also building products and must endure the stress of functioning in a male-dominated space.

This debate is not new. When Emily Liebert, formerly of Jezebel.com interviewed me for her feature article about the "Plight of the Crypto Hottie,” she not only featured women operators like me but also adult entertainers who are part of the crypto movement on the retail side. She wrote: 

There is no shortage of powerful women in crypto fighting exhaustively to be recognized for their merits and technical skills alone, instead of their gender or desirability. Legitimate funds like Haun Ventures and feminist coalitions like Boys Club and Crypto Besties are creating much-needed opportunities for women to get in on the digital gold rush. 

And it’s a weird movement.

As I type this, crypto is largely unregulated, so anything goes. I read a tweet that said it feels like we’re regressing because this is how business was run in the ’70s—with wild parties after hours. I don’t know much about the ’70s, but I do know that “304-TikTok” has popped up on my timeline recently, reflecting an underlying fascination with sexual content and innuendo in the business world. Even with laws discouraging fraternization, in the crypto industry and much of startup culture, everything is truly open-source.

So this tells me that she's still new and hasn't really broken through the noise.

Iggy probably has no clue about office decorum, but she knows how to sell herself using her ASSets. Her approach isn’t creative, and crypto cycles are all about hype. What's interesting is that with all this discourse going on about her infamous party, when you type in her name on the Twitter's search, her crypto activities or brand doesn't even show up as much as her music and low quality videos of her when she was a rapper.  She's not the poster child for crypto.  I digress. There’s always been a voice in the back of my head wondering how my journey could have been if I leaned into my sex appeal. Would I be better off? Probably not. Would I have tons of followers? Would I have succeeded faster in crypto if I embraced my curves? Maybe. But I'm not beating myself up about it.