Shiba-Inu Metaverse Executives Want Women In Blockchain

By Charlie Fink

On March 27, 2023

Entertainment technology executives Marcie Jastrow and Sherri Cuono announced at SXSW that they are building a multiplayer metaverse that revolves around Shiba Inu, the cryptocurrency called SHIB propagated by a fan community that uses cute dog meme iconography.

I spoke with Jastrow and co-head of development for SHIB, who goes by the pseudonym Shytoshi Kusama, while she was attending the 3rd annual conference of The International Women of Blockchain (IWB) which took place last week in Washington, DC, during Women’s History Month. Kusama established a fund, beginning with a personal contribution of $25,000, to benefit The International Woman of Blockchain, a 501 (c) 3.

NFAI, a project that aims to make traditional hedge fund and lending ecosystems available to Defi users via the power of A.I., has also pledged $10,000. Together with additional donations by Jastrow, a senior entertainment industry executive who previously ran Technicolor’s Experience Center. With Shib Metaverse’s Sherri Cuono and Lisa M Watts also contributing, the fund has raised $45,000 thus far.

“We will never reach full adoption until blockchain is accessible and utilized by all genders and nationalities,” said Kusama. Kusma says he will also ask the #SHIBARMY meme coin fans to contribute to the metaverse game’s development as well.

Shibarium Technology is built on top of a modified fork of the Ethereum scaling solution Polygon. “The Polygon network is tried and true,” Kusama explained. “The priority is creating a secure, trustworthy and quality foundation for the ShibArmy to build the Shib Metaverse upon. All coders, developers, marketers, and women led projects must be a core part of this undertaking,” he said.

“Women are powerful influencers in the decentralized community as well as leaders on Shib branded projects such as Shib the Metaverse,” said Jastrow. “At Shib we have a woman’s led group called #shibwomen and we are trying to grow this part of the community through mentorship, positive influence and inclusiveness.”

“In our efforts to build diversity in Web3 and Metaverse, we are excited that the #ShibArmy is throwing their full support to onboarding more women into Web3,” says Olayinka Odeniran, Executive Director of Black Women in Blockchain, and Chief Creative Director of IWB. “There is nothing better than to have a strong, powerful and supportive community take notice of your efforts to build a diverse future. As the Executive Director of Black Women in Blockchain, I am thrilled to partner with SHIB to increase the army of #Shibwomen.”

This piece republished from Forbes.