Elizabeth Stark — advocate of freedom and decentralization

It is not hard to see that the cryptocurrency industry is dominated by men. Although more and more often in the developing world of blockchain, projects led by women can be found. The number of women has noticeably increased in this industry in 2022. Thanks to this increased involvement of women, it can be said that virtual currencies are starting to be inclusive. Larger groups of people are interested in them, which is conducive to diversity and the development of new ideas.

2022 was a very good year for the female part of the cryptocurrency market. It is especially about the achievements of women under 30 who, thanks to ambition, innovative ideas, commitment and dedication, achieve success in the cryptocurrency industry. They also have a huge impact on the industry with their exceptional leadership skills. Just as in the case of male characters in the world of blockchain, which are bright examples of courage, go-getting and eccentricity with a hint of narcissism, women are also extraordinary.

Today we would like to introduce one of the female silhouettes of cryptobusiness. It’s about Elizabeth Stark. She is the co-founder and CEO of Lightning Labs and one of the first advocates of scaling blockchain solutions.

But let’s start from the beginning.

Elizabeth was raised in New York City and earned a BA in International Business from Brown University and a PhD in Law from Harvard University. There she was also editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology. During her studies, she was involved in the defense of human rights. After graduation, she worked and lived, among others, in Berlin, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Singapore. He also speaks fluent French, German and Portuguese.

Her career began as a lecturer at Stanford and Yale. Students learned about peer-to-peer technology, privacy, open source software and memes. He is currently the CEO of Lightning Labs. For the company, she developed technology that helps offload the transaction process of the main Bitcoin network. By scaling blockchains, it enables cheaper and faster BTC payments. These products are known as the Lightning Network. Additional support services are associated with this service. It’s about micropayments on a large scale — using a two-way process of directing micropayments, and this speeds up transaction processing, which in turn lowers transaction fees. Although the company has been operating since 2017, the infrastructure was developed in 2022 and was quickly adapted to a wide range of activities, including the handling of transcontinental Bitcoin-to-fiat transactions. The creators themselves compare the project to the popular Visa brand.

Stark also heads the Open Video Alliance, which supports innovation and freedom of expression in online video. Besides being a member of the Coin Center, this non-profit organization deals with the public policy of cryptocurrencies and decentralized computing technologies. He is also an advisor at Chia — the company handles a unique cryptocurrency mining protocol, the mechanism of which is based on the concept of proof of time and space. This is such an innovative discovery that it allows you to significantly save energy consumption than in the case of classic proof-of-work systems.

Elizabeth Stark is also a member of the Bitcoin community and a mentor to many new start-ups based on blockchain technology. He is also an important figure advocating for Internet freedom.

The cryptocurrency industry accuses Stark of not only lacking the ability to explain the deep technical concepts behind its design, but also never providing evidence to support its claims. Nevertheless, each of her speeches is extremely enthusiastic and she always shows complex issues with examples.

Although at first glance conferences, seminars and other gatherings reveal a shortage of women in the crypto world, their role is tangible. They are not limited to one specific niche, but are actively involved in the leading projects of the bockchain industry.