Amiti Uttarwar is looking to pave the way for more women to get involved in the crypto space.
Uttarwar Reminisces on How Her Career Came to Be
One of the biggest arguments going against the bitcoin and blockchain market is that it is predominately inhabited by men, but Uttarwar, in her role as a bitcoin core developer, is trying to help the industry she’s come to love so much branch out a little.
The daughter of Indian immigrants, Uttarwar says her parents struggled to make it to America, with her father coming first in 1984 and her mother the year after. Both were already married at the time and had to endure a year apart from each other so that a new life could potentially be carved out. Both taught Uttarwar the power of hard work.
In an interview, she explains:
Their journey is amazing. Anywhere I could go in the world today would be less unfamiliar than the U.S. was to my parents when they came.
As a kid, Uttarwar was involved in many charitable projects and non-profits, and as time went on, her focus and passion for positive social change led her to a new company called D-Rev, a non-profit that sought to develop new product solutions that would meet populations’ growing health needs. She states:
They would innovate really cheap versions of technology that could be used for purifying water or farming technology or irrigation or stoves that were much more fuel-efficient. It was much more targeted at people below the poverty line but using the consumer model so people would purchase these tools that would help them. It was to create something that was accessible and to empower individuals by giving them tools at their level and that suit their needs. There’s a mission that’s centered around social change or improving our society structures, but the way we are seeking out this mission isn’t purely altruistic… There is a business, but that’s not the sole focus.
The Introduction to BTC
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay area got her exposed to several tech outlets that ultimately helped develop her love of engineering and math. She later went on to Carnegie Mellon, majored in Information Systems, and graduated in 2014, only to return to the Bay area she knew so well. Following work at a few startups, she was eventually introduced to bitcoin after reading its whitepaper and seeing how hard it was pumping.
She was eventually hired by Coinbase and worked there for over a year. Eventually, she applied for the Chaincode Residency for 2019 through Chaincode Labs, which gave her a firsthand look at the bitcoin development core. She has since worked hard to expose others to the technology and has done well enough to garner sponsorships from various crypto companies such as Xapo, a Hong Kong-based crypto wallet venture.