Women’s presence drops at EthCC as crypto layoffs hit ‘female’ roles first

Women’s visibility at Europe’s flagship Ethereum (ETH) conference appears to have taken a step backwards this year, as EthCC 2026 attendees in Cannes reported a marked drop in female participation just as crypto companies accelerate layoffs in marketing, PR and events. “There are less women this year because when the market turns the first jobs to get tinned are those where the female concentration is highest (events, marketing, PR),” wrote Sarah Akwisombe, a growth and community specialist, in a widely shared post from the conference, pointing readers to the Plexus “state of crypto hiring” report for further context. Other women in attendance echoed the sentiment on X, with user @ZoeCatherineF responding that they were “always the first to be binned – only the ‘essentials’ do the BD trips,” while another attendee, @Angel__Lou, said she had “definitely noticed it too.”

The Plexus State of Crypto Hiring report paints a stark statistical backdrop to those anecdotes, showing that women still account for less than 8% of all crypto hires despite a 137% year‑on‑year increase in female placements into Web3 roles. That concentration is especially pronounced in non‑engineering positions like marketing, community, communications and events, precisely the categories many crypto firms have targeted for cuts during the latest downturn and in response to structural shifts such as AI adoption. Research compiled by Plexus, based on more than 900 vacancies and over 300 hiring processes, concludes that while headline diversity metrics in crypto have improved, “the jobs market for women in Web3 remains disproportionately exposed to cyclical hiring freezes and non‑technical layoffs.”

The pattern emerging in crypto mirrors broader labour‑market pressures in technology and finance, where softer growth, rising rates and aggressive AI investments have combined to squeeze non‑technical roles. In March, Crypto.com announced plans to cut around 12% of its workforce, telling Bloomberg that it was integrating AI “across its business” and could therefore reduce headcount, in one of the latest examples of digital‑asset firms trimming staff outside core engineering and trading functions. A recent survey cited by Fortune found that 66% of large‑company CEOs plan to freeze or cut hiring through 2026 after more than 1.17 million jobs were eliminated in 2025, with labour‑market data showing a 30% drop in entry‑level listings and a 42% drop in middle‑management postings since 2022.

FT columnist Sarah O’Connor, who covers the world of work, has argued that such cuts often land first in “softer” functions like HR, marketing and communications, roles that tend to have higher female representation across industries. That dynamic appears to be playing out in crypto as well, compounding longstanding diversity gaps just as the market’s attention turns back to institutional adoption, regulation and infrastructure at events such as EthCC.

For women on the ground in Cannes, the impact is immediately visible. Akwisombe’s thread, posted from her @SarahAkwisombe account and tagged with @PlexusRS, noted that the roles most exposed to cuts are also those that had historically offered a pathway into crypto for people without a technical background. “The best events are always run by @lo_tech and I won’t hear otherwise,” she added in a follow‑up post, highlighting the outsized role women have played in shaping the social and cultural fabric of Ethereum conferences even as their headcount shrinks.

Industry data suggests the stakes extend beyond this year’s conference optics. CoinLaw’s 2026 employment statistics report that 28% of women in blockchain say they have experienced harassment or discrimination, while 60% of women in fintech have left jobs due to a lack of diversity. Combined with the cyclical vulnerability of non‑technical roles, those pressures risk entrenching a two‑tier crypto labour market in which engineering teams slowly diversify on paper even as women’s presence in public‑facing roles diminishes when markets tighten.