Something I want to highlight and don't see talked about enough is the link between defi crypto wallet and the 'fuck off' fund for women.
I first learned of this 'F*ck Off Fund' from Paulette Perhach's essay that went viral in 2018. You can read her Glamour magazine feature here
In it, Paulette explains that her family went bankrupt when she was 8 years old, so in her later years she began to see the importance of always having a backup fund to allow you the freedom you might need one day.
Paulette's essay explained how she could ultimately leave her job and wrote about how she could have left slimy bosses and bad relationships because of what she called a f*ck-off fund.
"The piece went viral; women told me it made them cry and they could relate."
Glamour's new money survey entitled 'Deep, Dark Money Secrets From 1,000 Women' a full 71% said they’ve stayed in a job because they couldn’t afford to leave; while 31% said they’ve been financially trapped in a relationship.
The relationship trap is one that may be overlooked by many as an incentive to save. But since the horrific stats of how calls to domestic violence centres around the world had increased during the pandemic, perhaps that's where a crypto wallet and NFTs can come in handy, in playing an important and empowering role in women's ability to save on their own and ultimately move and leave a situation, safely.
If you have a phone and have internet access. You can and should have a crypto wallet. Your crypto wallet can be something that is just for you.
With NFTs becoming like a fast paced sport. Think of using your crypto wallet as a thing you like to do, like playing tennis. I've known women in situations where they didn't have full access to their finances and women who were watched a little too closely on what was being spent or put away. So, with saying this, and the fact that you don't need to link a bank account to get started, the crypto wallet becomes a very viable and safe option for an individual to have, just for them.
When I started out, I had to put money in my crypto wallet to pay what is known as a gas fee (essentially a transaction fee) in order to mint (upload an item for sale) but then discovered that you are able to mint NFTs on a more environmentally friendly network, Polygon, for free!! So, you don't even have to have any money in your wallet to get going and start earning if you're a creator.
I hope that we will see more women with crypto wallets as another way of saving and building that DeFi f*ck off fund, particularly a f*ck off to safety fund, for those that may need one. I also really hope that more charities will open up and accept crypto too so that the ability to help and reach people in need draws that little bit closer by offering another option.
Like Paulette says
"Every woman should have a f*ck-off fund so that she can write her own story. That kind of freedom is the fanciest luxury I’ve ever known."