Rachel Geyer
Vice President and Spokesperson at terahash.space
Please introduce yourself and your background. What has brought you into fintech?
I’m Rachel Geyer, Vice President and Spokesperson at terahash.space, a German startup working to bring hashrate to Europe. I’m also Chair of the European Bitcoin Energy Association, where we focus on educating policymakers and the public about Bitcoin mining’s potential for strengthening EU energy infrastructure. And I’m one of the founding members of “Les Femmes Orange” — a Bitcoin education movement made by women, for everyone. My most important role by far is mother to four children.
My path into Bitcoin wasn’t typical. I come from a background in international education and nonprofit governance. But in 2017, while living in South Africa, it was my eldest son who first got me thinking about Bitcoin. It took three more years and a pandemic to finally dive deep and understand its full potential. At first, it was about sound money. Later, I realized how transformative Bitcoin could be for global energy systems.
That’s a fascinating journey! What was it like for you personally, as a woman, entering the Bitcoin space?
When I finally grasped Bitcoin in 2021, I decided to attend my first conference in Switzerland. I wanted to be around like-minded people and learn as much as I could. But I’ll be honest: walking into that room, I felt completely out of place. There I was, a middle-aged woman, surrounded by a sea of young, baseball-cap-wearing tech guys. I remember thinking, “What am I doing here?”
And then something amazing happened. It turned out to be one of the best weekends of my life. Everyone was welcoming and open. I learned so much. But despite the warm welcome, I was one of the very few women there, and that stuck with me.
To me, Bitcoin is tailor-made for women. We’re constantly juggling families, careers, households, and often elder care too. Yet so many women say they’re “not interested in money” or “let their partner handle the finances.” And then, sadly, they find themselves financially vulnerable later in life — after decades of unpaid or underpaid work. That’s the gap I want to help close.
Les Femmes Orange is your answer to that gap. What inspired the movement, and how has it evolved?
I wanted to create a space that sparked curiosity and confidence among women. So we organized our first weekend gathering at the Bitcoin Hotel in Plochingen in 2022 — and 70% of the attendees were women. That weekend was unforgettable. We laughed, cried, danced, learned, painted, and bonded. Men were welcome, too, and we asked them to bring a woman with them to keep the feminine energy strong in the room.
The response was bigger than I ever imagined. Since then, we’ve grown from two-weekend events a year to regular meetups across Germany — and even internationally. We have active Telegram groups in English and German, a YouTube channel with live-streamed education sessions, and a thriving network of women organizing local walks, book clubs, and events.
We don’t have a legal structure. No hierarchy. Just a principle: Bitcoin only. Everything else is up to the women in the community. It’s about cooperation, not competition, amplifying voices that are too often unheard: the mothers, the caregivers, the older women… and yes, sometimes men too. We’re stronger together. And we need each other.
It’s nice to see that you operate at the intersection of advocacy, education, and infrastructure. Where do you see the biggest opportunity to bring more women into the Bitcoin space, particularly as leaders and builders?
The technology is here. What we need now is for women to step up.
Men were essential in building the technology, and I’m deeply grateful for that. But women are natural connectors, communicators, and social architects. We can help shape Bitcoin’s cultural adoption, showing why it matters for our families, our children, and society at large.
There can’t be mass adoption if half the population is left behind. And there won’t be a fair society if most of the wealth remains in male hands. We’ve seen that story before. We know how it ends.
I believe that motherhood is one of the most important and undervalued roles in society. Yet, we rarely acknowledge the long-term value mothers create. Bitcoin gives us a way to restore that value — to reward time, energy, and care. It’s a new kind of measuring stick.
That’s a compelling vision. But what are the biggest barriers preventing more women from entering and staying in the Bitcoin space?
Time, mostly. Women are stretched thin. Who has two hours to watch a podcast on monetary theory after a full day of work, childcare, cleaning, and everything else life throws at us?
Many women — especially younger ones — aren’t thinking about financial security yet. They’re on Instagram, not thinking about retirement. Older women often have little money and even less exposure to financial education. They only realize too late how critical financial independence really is.
Of course, these are generalizations, but they ring true more often than not. The point is: we need to meet women where they are. With empathy, not judgment.
Looking ahead, what would progress look like to you, both for women and for the future of Bitcoin?
I’m not here for crypto. I’m here for Bitcoin. It’s the only truly decentralized, people-first system out there. I’m not interested in which country or corporation buys it. I care about everyday people, especially women, learning why they need it and how to use it to reclaim their time, energy, and independence, and to help protect their families.
If we get that right, we’ll see something much deeper than Bitcoin adoption. We’ll see a rebalancing of yin and yang. A return to nature. A healing of what’s been lost.
