New Delhi: While cryptos and NFTs were designed to bring investors and tech enthusiasts of all potential together on a decentralised network, it appears that a recent NFT event has completely missed the point of crypto: inclusivity for all. As per an image that’s going viral on Twitter, the entry markers for the ladies’ toilet at the venue were covered up to highlight only ‘Men.’ Even the symbols that denote women’s toilets appear to have been tampered with. The crypto community didn’t take to the tampering kindly and took to Twitter to express their disappointment.
On Monday, Mia Sato (@MiaRSato), a platforms and communities reporter at The Verge, tweeted a photo of the toilet entry area at a crypto conference. Without revealing any detail on which event she was attending or where the venue is, Sato simply wrote, “I’m at a crypto/NFT conference when…” as she shared the image.
It’s clear from the image that the ‘Women’ marker has been covered up enough to only show ‘Men’ written on the wall. Within the hallway, even a giant symbol denoting women was covered up with a Men’s washroom symbol. The same was the case with another symbol placed right beside the covered-up ‘Women’ marker.
Readers should note that it isn’t clear why such an arrangement was made. It could very well be possible that to accommodate larger crowds and ease management at the event, washrooms were changed and demarcated with entirely separate zones for ‘Men’ and ‘Women.’ The event managers may have decided to set up women’s toilets somewhere else in the venue to control crowds. However, such a thing doesn’t really happen regularly, even at major sports stadiums when a big match is on. Furthermore, it also doesn’t explain why the event managers decided to convert a washroom clearly designed and intended for women's use into an additional men’s toilet, especially when the original men’s toilet is located just alongside, as seen in the shared image.
It could also be possible that this was an act of some bad actors and not the official event managers. Whatever the case may be, Sato didn’t offer many details at the moment but said that she would be “writing about it” soon.
The crypto community took to Twitter to share their shock and outrage. While user David Tully (@CynicalEyebrow) said, “Men vs Smaller, Timid Men, Who Have Not Purchased Crypto,” another user oino! (@oinodata) wrote, “Sums up the ludicrousness of “crypt0currency” in one picture, gullible blokes trying to scam gullible blokes.” User Maru (@Frembia) summed up the scenario perfectly, as she simply wrote: "NFT: No Female Toilets."
Here are some reactions on Twitter:
For now, we will have to wait for Sato to offer further clarity on the matter.