People told me the photo of this event would never be posted. I heard about it right after it happened, as some of the men in attendance shared how awkward it felt looking around the table and realizing there was zero diversity. They thought the marketing team would catch it and keep the photo from being posted.

I was certain it would be posted. Here’s why: I’d bet whoever planned this event didn’t set out to make it all men, and they likely didn’t notice the absence of women. Maybe a few women were invited but couldn’t attend, and then, in the rush of planning, no one checked if the event was truly representative.

So here we are, with a photo of mostly white men symbolizing “the future of digital assets”—a future looking suspiciously like the past, where the same group has held decision-making power in finance for centuries.

Inclusion requires intentionality. Without it, humans naturally default to inviting those they know, which often means inviting people just like them. I know good people at Fidelity International, some of whom I met at Point Zero Forum. They’d likely want a more inclusive event if it were pointed out, but in many cases, it simply doesn’t occur to people to be intentional about representation.

For those moving from traditional banking to digital finance, there’s an opportunity to address the broken aspects of their industry and build something better. But to truly create a future-ready finance industry, we must tackle exclusion with the same drive we have for innovation. If the commitment to tokenizing real-world assets could match a commitment to diversity, imagine the world we could create.

But as Jodie Foster once said, “That continues to be my wish.” 💔