US lawmakers calls for diversity and inclusion data from 20 digital assets firms

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The U.S. House Financial Services Committee is looking to shine a light on the level of diversity and inclusion in the digital assets space. A coalition from the committee has sent requests to 20 key players in the U.S. digital assets space requesting data around their diversity and inclusion practices. 

According to a press release, the House Financial Services Committee has made “diversity and inclusion a core pillar of its efforts to ensure that the U.S. financial services system works for everyone. It added that there is a concerning lack of diversity and inclusion data among firms in the digital assets space, hence the request. 

“There is a concerning lack of publicly available data to effectively evaluate the diversity among America’s largest digital assets companies, and the investment companies with significant investments in these companies. We believe transparency is a critical, first step to achieving racial and gender equity,” the lawmakers wrote. 

The committee has singled out 20 firms it believes to be the “largest crypto, Web3, and digital assets companies,” as well as venture capital firms in the space. These include Aave, Andreessen Horowitz, Binance.US, Circle, Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), Crypto.com, Digital Currency Group, FTX, Gemini, Haun Ventures, Kraken, OpenSea, PancakeSwap, Paradigm, Paxos, Ripple, Sequoia Capital, Stellar Development Foundation, Tether, and UniSwap. 

The house members conducting the study include House Financial Services Committee chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chair of the Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Al Green (D-TX), Chairman of the Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Bill Foster (D-IL), and Chairman of the Task Force on Financial Technology Stephen Lynch (D-MA). 

The firms have until September 2 to provide the requested data. The committee has conducted similar studies among traditional banks, investment managers, insurance, and fintech key players since 2020. 

Diversity and inclusion gaining significant focus in the digital assets industry

The sensitive subject of diversity and inclusion has already been taking center stage in the digital assets industry. Several initiatives to make the space more inclusive have cropped up. 

A few highlighted recently by CNBC include Black Women Blockchain Council (BWBC), Women in Blockchain (WiB), and the Komorebi Collective. Founded in 2021, BWBC has partnered with ConsenSys to train 500,000 women globally to become blockchain developers by 2030. 

Governments have also been supporting such initiatives to actualize their aim. One such government is Abu Dhabi’s. Back in June, the city’s government partnered with Unstoppable Domains to give out web3 domain names to all its female residents.

Watch: The BSV Global Blockchain Convention panel, Blockchain Venture Investments: Driving Utility for a Better World

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