Wisdom From The Women Leading The Blockchain Revolution, With Cynthia Gliga of Cartesi

Well, I might have an unpopular take here, but everyone having an opinion about what would be needed to engage more women in crypto feels patronizing. It’s not as if women need special invitations or handholding to join the space. If they’re genuinely interested, they’ll find their way here without anyone bending over backward to accommodate them.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Cynthia Gliga.

Cynthia Gliga is the Community Lead at Cartesi, where she spearheads marketing initiatives to enhance Cartesi’s visibility and engagement. She also manages the online community presence across different platforms and leads a team of dedicated ambassadors overseeing ten language-specific communities worldwide. Prior to joining Cartesi, Cynthia worked as a Community Growth Specialist and Content Creator at Innovion, where she contributed to numerous blockchain projects.

With a background in Communications and PR, Cynthia was among the first globally recognized Meta Certified Community Managers and successfully developed award-winning expat communities. Since starting her blockchain journey in 2018 as a self-taught contributor, she has recognized the role of vibrant communities as key differentiators in fulfilling the promise of decentralization. Cynthia is passionate about nurturing and scaling communities to amplify projects that can make a meaningful impact in the blockchain space.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you share with us the story of how you decided to pursue this career path? What lessons can others learn from your story?

I’ve always been a people person, thriving on interactions and building connections. This naturally led me from my initial educational background in math toward philosophy, communications, PR, marketing, and community building.

Regarding my blockchain journey, I intuitively felt something was missing: while we could freely and instantly video call friends across continents thanks to the internet, sending or receiving money internationally still took days, involved several intermediaries, and incurred high fees. I believed our financial systems needed to modernize alongside our communications infrastructure. This thought came from my time working in telecom. Later, while peacefully established in the tourism industry, I started to notice Bitcoin headlines that piqued my interest, so I decided to investigate further.

It was a lonely journey at first, relying solely on online content, as I didn’t know a single soul familiar with blockchain in real life. In 2018, the blockchain and crypto narrative hadn’t caught on much in Spain, but I believed I was onto something. It’s funny because most people get introduced to this space by friends or connections, not by stumbling upon it online like I did. The internet became my gateway to this new world, and I was constantly researching. I’m probably the only person who spent three days researching whether Coinbase was a scam before daring to play with this ‘magic internet money,’ because again, I had no one to ask. Fast forward, after learning too much about trading and riding pretty opportunistically the last bull run, I gradually discovered there was much more to the blockchain world. I realized how blockchain’s attributes could have an even greater impact on other aspects of society, and various use cases could be empowered by decentralization, verifiability, and censorship resistance, driving transformative changes on a global scale.

One thing led to another, and I found myself involved in blockchain advisory and marketing agencies, growing communities, interacting on socials, and creating content for different projects in the space like Ocean Protocol, Coti, Aioz Network, Wilder World, etc. while mingling in numerous Telegram groups. As such, crypto communities have become a significant part of who I am. Now, thankfully, I’m surrounded by a vibrant community of people involved in the space, many of whom I’ve had the opportunity to meet in real life, and I no longer need to scour the internet in search of the holy grail of blockchain information, but I still enjoy going down the rabbit hole occasionally.

Can you tell me about the most interesting projects you are working on now?

Abso-cartesi-lutely! As mentioned earlier, while being active in various communities, I started my involvement with Cartesi around 2021. I was working with one of their previous advisors, and I began to see this L2 solution with Linux making moves to claim a spot in the space. Before long, I found myself learning a lot about it, mingling with nearly everyone in the community, and eventually making a quantum leap into the core team.

Years later, I’m still here, more involved than ever and increasingly confident in Cartesi’s ability to provide a simple, familiar, and powerful development environment, infused with Linux’s 30 years of progress, to bring to life the much-needed use cases that we all expect from blockchain’s transformative promise. I’m continually amazed by the visionary founders and early contributors who started conceptualizing components like altVMs and appchains years ago — concepts that are only now becoming a thing and have gotten these names. And I’m honored to be part of this journey, dedicated to growing the community and its marketing footprint, elevating the project’s recognition and impact, and driving its adoption. Other side projects that I should still dedicate some time to, in an ideal world, pale in comparison to this mission.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I think there are many people that I’ve been lucky to stumble across and interact with who have influenced me in one way or another. We are continuously shaped by our interactions, and I wouldn’t be here without all the people who believed in me, accepted me as I am, and encouraged me to spread my wings even more. I had a few ‘previous lives’ before my blockchain journey, and each stage played an important role. I think it played a role that I’ve been trusted with leadership positions over time, and while no one can see the future, I gained the confidence to act on what I believed was right at every point. This built me as a person to always speak my mind and push for what I thought should happen. I won’t be able to name a specific person without sacrificing others who showed me the way, so I’ll just extend my gratitude to everyone who’s been and is part of my life, as everyone is playing a role in what we need to experience in order to grow.

What are the 3 things that most excite you about blockchain and crypto? Why?

The things that attracted me in the first place are still valid today. I feel that the entire philosophy and paradigm of what the blockchain revolution represents speaks to a part of my soul that I must admit is entirely anarchist. The initial narrative that impacted us all was a new way of seeing the financial world — I was excited about peer-to-peer interactions without a middleman, as I always found it strange that we work for our money and values, yet someone else (think banks) receives and actually owns them, and we need to ask permission to use them (think withdrawals and hoping the ATM still allows you to do so).

Building on this, I’m excited that blockchain technology has the potential to limit government intervention and avoid bureaucracy overall, in anything from buying a house to dealing with the paperwork for identity documents.

Finally, I am excited about the possibility of building fairer systems where everyone can enjoy the same treatment dictated by smart contracts, free from any nuances of inequalities based on status, gender, religion, nationality, and so on.

What are the 3 things that worry you about blockchain and crypto? Why?

Going to the darker side of crypto and blockchain, I think that the attributes of transparency, immutability, and everything being registered on a public ledger have the highest potential to enslave humanity. If we think of CBDCs and government control over programmable money, which might be offered to us for a bit more convenience in exchange for another chunk of our freedom and liberty, it suddenly becomes a bad idea.

With big corporations owning all our data, preferences, and information about our habits — thanks to the social media we willingly use for free, which instead reveals everything about who we really are — it’s only a step away from pairing this information with our wallets and imposing restrictions or permissions on our spending based on our behavior. In other words, a social credit system paired with programmable money, potentially trapping us in only executing what is deemed socially acceptable and forcing us into compliance. Not long ago, during the COVID era, some really unusual things became socially acceptable. Now, imagine all that compliance coercion being trackable on-chain. And who knows if that was just a trial run?

I could go on and on, and history shows that humanity has often used technological breakthroughs for more harm than good, so these worries remain in the back of my mind. Hopefully, we are evolving, though!

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share a story?

I wouldn’t say I’ve reached success yet — I’m still on that path, haha. But I have used my position to do good by empowering others. I always strive to uplift those who deserve it, and I love to make people feel ‘seen,’ recognize their efforts, and encourage them to achieve even more. And I am really proud when I see that my votes of confidence are paying off and people are flourishing in their own personal and professional development.

I also feel a deep sense of appreciation toward my colleagues and the entire blockchain community that has supported me along the way. I owe everyone a debt of gratitude for everything they’ve given me and taught me. My goal is to continue contributing positively and ensuring that both my success and the success of the projects I’m involved in benefit others as well. In time, I hope to feel I’ve brought more meaning to the space compared to when I found it.

As you know there are not that many women in your industry. Can you share 5 things that you would advise to other women in the blockchain space to thrive?

My best advice is to take a leap of faith and bet on oneself. If other women in the space are thriving, there is no reason anyone else can’t too! Keep learning and maintain enthusiasm and drive. Commit to shipping and delivering while starting where one is, and better tools will come along. Learning is a lifelong process, so it’s important to just take a seat at the table and speak up if there’s a point to make. In the end, no one is born knowing everything.

Joining a female community can also be beneficial for boosting confidence and helping to level up faster. Organizations like SheFi or H.E.R. DAO focus on onboarding female newbies and do a great job of showcasing female role models while making the complexities of the field less intimidating, especially for those who are not self-learners. Plus, it creates a sense of fraternity — or, in this sense, ‘sorority’ — which is nice to be a part of.

There will always be someone who knows less and someone who knows more. It’s okay to be at any level — comparing oneself to someone with 10 more years of experience is unnecessary. There is a place and a time for everything, so enjoying one’s OWN journey is key.

Can you advise what is needed to engage more women into the blockchain industry?

Well, I might have an unpopular take here, but everyone having an opinion about what would be needed to engage more women in crypto feels patronizing. It’s not as if women need special invitations or handholding to join the space. If they’re genuinely interested, they’ll find their way here without anyone bending over backward to accommodate them.

Perhaps the real issue is the underlying assumption that women need extra encouragement to participate. Why not focus on making the industry as inclusive and welcoming as possible for everyone, easier to grasp and get involved, regardless of gender? If the innovation is real and the opportunities are attractive, and if we all get better at illustrating that, passionate individuals — women included — will naturally gravitate toward it. Let’s start recognizing women as equal participants who can make their own decisions about where they want to invest their time, knowledge, and energy.

What is your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that had relevance to your own life?

It’s challenging to choose just one quote because, as someone who has always enjoyed reading philosophy, I’ve encountered numerous ‘life lesson’ quotes. I have always appreciated the depth of thought, soul-searching, and profound questioning of the meaning of existence that our great thinkers offer. But in the spirit of blockchain philosophy, which goes hand in hand with self-governance and autonomy, I’d choose “Sapere Aude” — the phrase used in Latin by Kant in his essay “What is Enlightenment?”

It translates to “dare to know,” but it actually refers to the imperative of using our own reason and judgment and having the courage to think for ourselves, rather than relying on external entities. This idea of autonomy and self-reliance, where we should dare to know and have the courage to use our own understanding, deeply resonates with me, as I have always tried to break free from traditional dogmas and the need for external validation, been skeptical towards traditional authority and held strong opinions of my own rather than passively follow others. I think blockchain itself also functions on the idea of personal responsibility (being your own bank and all those funky taglines). It reflects the value of using one’s judgment and engaging with emerging technologies critically and independently. It’s an era of intellectual bravery with no precedent that I couldn’t love more, and I think Kant would have loved it too, haha.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I’d bet on authenticity. The most amount of good to the most amount of people can only come from individuals truly becoming who they really are, as I am convinced everyone is intrinsically good (if I were to recognize that I am aligned with Rousseau’s philosophy of the ‘noble savage’ being corrupted by the inequalities of society and its institutions). If everyone allowed themselves to be their authentic selves, the world would be much more harmonious, and people would naturally gravitate toward realizing their full potential without the setbacks of trying to fit in or conform to societal molds.

So, the movement would be to challenge the status quo, question things that don’t feel right, and act in accordance with our inherent understanding and intuition about how things should be. Interestingly, I believe this is what the Web3 industry is actually aiming to achieve: creating a space where authenticity and self-sovereignty can thrive. In this space, immutable, verifiable, permissionless, and transparent systems allow people to focus beyond mere functionality on higher and more meaningful explorations and goals. Let’s just continue this movement and spread this vision to more people. If everyone aligns with their full potential and strives for authenticity, truly revolutionary ideas and paradigms can emerge, replacing outdated dogmas and creating a more inclusive, innovative, and thriving world.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Always eager to meet and interact with more industry enthusiasts — looking forward to connecting on X or Warpcast where I started a /womeninweb3 dedicated channel.

You can also find me active in Cartesi’s community channels: Telegram, Discord, Reddit.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!