Please introduce yourself and your background. What has brought you into fintech?

I’m Paloma Soria Brown, Spain Chapter Lead for SheFi — a global network of over 12,000 women in Web3, blockchain, crypto, and AI. I also recently joined Bybit as Card & Pay Partnerships Lead, and I previously acted as Base Ambassador in Spain.

My background bridges economics, technology, and cultural analysis. I studied at ESSEC Business School and Sciences Po in Paris, earning master’s degrees in business and journalism, and later a third in philosophy. My focus across all of these fields has always been to understand how systems evolve and how people can engage with them. That is what ultimately drew me into fintech and crypto.

That’s a fascinating journey, from journalism and philosophy to tech, and now crypto! What inspired this path, and how did your interest in emerging technologies really take shape?

I began in journalism, covering economics and technology for AFP and contributing to “Le Monde.” That gave me the tools to analyze macro trends, trace regulatory shifts, and connect them to lived experience. Philosophy added another layer — it helped me question the assumptions behind the systems we take for granted.

In the industry, I saw disruptions from the inside. At IBM, I worked with banks just as they were grappling with digital-native competitors, while at Spotify, I experienced how technology can reconfigure industries and reshape culture through creators and partnerships.

Together, those experiences gave me both an operational and strategic lens that now informs how I approach Web3. Every move can make or break a market. That risk-reward balance fascinated me when I started investing, reading whitepapers, and analyzing projects. What stood out the most for me was the hybridity of crypto: code as governance, communities as institutions, and value negotiated in real time. I think crypto is the most significant financial innovation and cultural experiment of our time.

You’ve painted a compelling picture of how your interest and expertise in Web3 were taking shape. As you moved into crypto and DeFi as a woman, what was your personal experience? What challenges did you face, and what helped you navigate them?

I financed my own education through scholarships and earned three master’s degrees before turning thirty, so I was already used to challenging myself and navigating uncharted paths. Entering crypto felt similar — the information was fragmented, the learning curve was steep, and self-education was constant.

As a woman, and as a Black woman in particular, my experience has been shaped by both support and resistance. Many men in the ecosystem actively support inclusion, and initiatives like SheFi carry real credibility, but I also encountered subtle gatekeeping. Knowledge, especially around investing and trading, often circulates in male-dominated informal networks.

That pushed me to double down: I completed SheFi’s MBA-style program, pursued trading courses, and learned directly from Crypto Twitter. In the end, I’d say crypto rewards initiative. So, the real barrier for women is access, and with the right knowledge and a supportive community, they can thrive in this industry.

That idea of access as a hurdle really stands out, and education seems central to changing that. Why do you see it as such a critical lever for bringing more women into blockchain and DeFi?

I think education is what turns exclusion into participation. For centuries, women were denied financial independence, and that left generational gaps in financial literacy. And you can still see it today: men tend to enter new wealth markets faster, which is why, on top of the wage gap, only about 10 percent of crypto millionaires are women.

SheFi works because it goes beyond technical training. Yes, women learn how to set up wallets, analyze yield models, or evaluate protocols, but they also learn together, in community, and that collective act shifts what feels possible. Education in this sense becomes cultural permission as it builds confidence, solidarity, and authority.

I also believe that learning helps to move past the stereotypes. My own entry into Web3 showed me a world of creativity and innovation far beyond the clichés of speculation or “crypto bros.” Education opens that door for others, too, making it easier to see crypto as a space to build, not just to bet.

Sure, education clearly helps open doors, yet the industry is still largely male-dominated. From your perspective, what are the main barriers that hold women back in crypto, and how can initiatives like SheFi help dismantle them?

From where I stand, barriers exist at several levels. Linguistically, the jargon of crypto can be exclusionary. Historically, men have had longer exposure to financial education, which helps explain why they often feel more confident in money-related conversations. And culturally, finance has long been coded as masculine, with risk-taking celebrated as a male trait, while spending or so-called “frivolous” expenses are unfairly coded as female.

This is precisely where SheFi makes a difference. The program translates complex concepts into rigorous but accessible knowledge, accelerates financial literacy for women, and rewrites cultural narratives by positioning women as central actors in a new financial system. Over time, these interventions accumulate into a shift in norms, and these are norms that determine who participates in markets.

SheFi’s founder, Maggie Love Wu, launched the initiative in 2020 during the pandemic, a moment of deep financial uncertainty. Apart from being a source of knowledge, it quickly became a community of resilience, showing that women could invest and lead even in times of instability. Looking ahead, I believe this model offers a template for broader inclusion for both women and historically excluded groups worldwide, from unbanked populations to communities left out of traditional banking.

It’s inspiring to hear such layered insights on barriers, inclusion, and the role of SheFi! Lastly, for women who want to enter blockchain, DeFi, or fintech but may feel intimidated by a male-dominated culture, what advice would you share?

I’d say: enter as a learner, not as a finished product. You don’t need to know everything on day one. Just start with curiosity: read a whitepaper, experiment with a protocol, join a community call. Each small step builds fluency and confidence.

Or seek out communities like SheFi as solidarity accelerates learning and makes the space less intimidating. You don’t have to enter alone.

Most importantly, trust the value of your perspective. Web3 isn’t only about code or markets. It’s about designing the next layer of how society operates. Women, and especially women of color, bring cultural intelligence and nuance that are essential for building resilient systems. The challenge is to enter Web3, but also to shape it.