Crypto For Everyone: Chase Chapman's Views On Diversity, Inclusion, And Accessibility

May 9, 2023

Chase Chapman is a young entrepreneur and contributor to the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) ecosystem. Growing up as a digital native, she was intrigued by the ways in which digital spaces could influence people's lives, particularly in the wake of the 2016 US presidential election. This led her to explore blockchain technology and its potential to solve problems around data provenance.

Chapman's interest in making crypto more accessible to everyone led her to co-found a developer tooling company with her mentor. However, she soon realized that the developer experience was still a significant obstacle to building amazing user experiences. This led her to shift her focus to the DAO ecosystem, where she is now a part of the team at Metropolis, a search and protect on-chain permissions.

During our discussion on Newforum, Chase shared her thoughts on web3 and its accessibility. While the usability of web3 is still lacking, the biggest barrier to entry is the need for a significant amount of money to participate. She also discussed the use of niche language in the crypto community, which creates in-groups and out-groups, making it difficult for newcomers to understand. Additionally, she spoke about the importance of creating democratic spaces online and mentioned the need for diversity in DAO contributors to ensure that everyone has equal access to participation.

Chase recognizes the role that mentorship has played in her success, acknowledging that without her mentor, she would not be where she is today. She also acknowledges her privilege as someone living in the United States with multiple identities that give her access and privilege in the crypto space. While she recognizes that there is much work to be done in terms of diversity and inclusion in the space, she believes that one of the key issues is the perception that anonymity is essential in the crypto space, which can make it difficult to build trust and foster community.

Chase also highlighted the issue of failure to get things done in DAOs. According to Chase, it is often a result of not being able to coordinate or organize around a democratic system, rather than people not seeing each other's points of view. There is a need to create more democratic spaces online to ensure people are not left behind. The label "DAO" is mostly helpful for describing how people organize in smaller groups. These smaller groups are distributed or decentralized, and the organizations of people in them are DAOs.

Chase's story is a testament to the power of exploration and learning in the crypto space, as well as the importance of mentorship and community-building in creating a more accessible and equitable ecosystem. She is motivated by the vision of a better version of the internet that gives people more control over the spaces that have become such an important part of our lives. She encourages everyone to find their unique reason for being in the crypto space, even if it's not clear yet, and to nurture that.

The conversation with Chase also touches on the concept of self-organizing organizations and the importance of feedback. She explains that in a self-managing organization, such as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), individuals receive a lot of feedback because they do not have a boss to protect them. To leverage this feedback to create something better, individuals need to have a deep sense of empathy for themselves and others, but also not let the feedback destabilize them. Chase suggests that amplifying collective intelligence involves challenging beliefs and having empathy for oneself and others. The conversation also touches on the potential of DAOs in the future of work and consumer experiences, particularly in digital spaces.

Finally, the Chase reflects on the evolution of crypto and how it has led with infrastructure rather than applications on top of it.

Watch the full episode 🔥

Join the community to learn about @chaserchapman and discover other founders and visionaries in the web3 community!

✨Follow Chase Chapman! Twitter: @chaserchapman Website: othersidepod.xyz

#newforum #web3 #dao #blockchain #crypto #community #inclusivity #onlinecommunities #decentralization #developers #accessibility #empathy

‍

"We need the right tools to experiment effectively in the decentralized ecosystem. Without solving issues like wallet usability, we face a cold start problem regardless of how amazing an application may be. As a community, we still have a long way to go in exploring consumer applications. DAOs and social experiences offer an exciting model to intertwine ownership and social interactions, creating value beyond mere economic metrics. By prioritizing unique human experiences like connection, sharing, and building communities, we can foster a sense of belonging and create fascinating platforms like the FWB app, where people can authentically share their lives and form a cozy community..."