Amna Usman Chaudhry doesn’t remotely fit the typical image of financial economists whose focus on figures can make them seem daunting, even dull. This stylish former financial economist – now a pioneering blockchain, Metaverse and web3 strategist – has many fascinating layers!
Even before blockchain went mainstream, Amna was a passionate groundbreaker in this space. Since then, she’s been humbly sharing her vast fintech knowledge to educate others and enhance women’s representation in web3.
Steadfastly advocating for diversity and inclusion, she’s on a quest to encourage more women in fintech, blockchain and web3. Not just limited to women, Amna also wants to highlight disability inclusion and in general supports all kinds of diversity and equality to be at the forefront of the web3 revolution.
With notable credentials – an MSc. in Financial Economics from the UK, economic research experience with the World Bank and several other certifications and qualifications – Amna also has a diploma from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in Islamic Finance. This fast-growing sector was already a ‘staggering $2.9 trillion industry in 2019.’
Actively seeking out projects that align with her ‘values of diversity, inclusion and sustainability,’ this Dubai-based fintech pioneer is like other female leaders excelling in the fintech space – as both a serial founder and focusing on several projects simultaneously.
These include being a member of the University of Oxford’s first cohort of the Oxford Blockchain Strategy Program and a founding member of global organization the Oxford Blockchain Foundation. She was also a founding member of the Slovenia-based Blockclean project, which focused on the reduction of plastic pollution via tokenization on the blockchain.
Amna is also the Head of the AllStarsWomen DAO UAE Chapter, which is a DAO focused on bringing female diversity into the web3 ecosystem. Moreover, she’s a coveted fintech award judge, podcast guest and engaging keynote speaker at numerous global blockchain, Metaverse and web3 events at iconic venues such as Dubai’s Museum of the Future.
Besides blockchain, cryptocurrency and web3, Amna’s keenly interested in frontier technologies like Internet of things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and robotics.
With her conviction that ‘education is the first step towards a more inclusive and diverse future for us all,’ she’s realized the main thing keeping people away from the blockchain and web3 space, in general, is the ‘Tech barrier,’ or a lack of understanding of the fundamentals.’ This is behind her decision to actively encourage mainstream understanding of web3 and the underlying technologies like blockchain, DeFi, DAOs, Metaverse and NFTs through all her interactions and initiatives.
“I know that sharing the basics and foundations of web3 in a simplified manner will help others join the web3 movement, and only then can we have a strong foundation of diverse and inclusive people building an equal world of web3 together.”
Referring to the Metaverse, Amna describes it as ‘an immersive experience which shifts you to another world.’ She comments web3 and the Metaverse have made massive strides since 2021, with the Metaverse really gathering momentum following Facebook rebranding itself as Meta.
“The definition and goal of the Metaverse to which the web3 community aspires is a space that’s immersive, inclusive and decentralized, with many layers to it including blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Extended Reality (AR, VR, MR).”
With more banks, companies and even government agencies buying virtual estate and establishing a presence in the Metaverse, she remarks ‘the Economist’s prediction that 2022 will be the Year of the Metaverse turned out to be quite true.’
As examples, Amna cites Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) becoming the first government regulatory authority to establish a presence in the Metaverse, the 2022 Superbowl and MTV Video Music Awards incorporating web3 and the Metaverse, as well as TIME magazine publishing a Metaverse Cover.
Web3 has also shown great momentum overall, such as Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and the NFT market dominating web3 and the Metaverse in avatars, virtual clothing and more.
Amna also won the “Woman in Web3” award in the MENA region, by the Women in Tech global organization where certain categories of the awards were sponsored by Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Amna believes one of the best use cases of web3 is using it for good such as the Giga project, which is a joint UNICEF and ITU initiative to connect every school to the internet by 2030, hence giving every child, in particular underprivileged children, a chance at a better future. Their Patchwork Kingdom NFTs were the biggest NFT collection by the United Nations (UN) and raised more than USD 700,000, all of which went to fund the Giga cause and are available on Opensea for purchase.
With limitless opportunities in the Metaverse, Amna emphasizes that ‘companies and businesses need to understand how to leverage these opportunities to their advantage.’
She’s enthusiastic about the prospect of companies buying virtual office space and holding meetings and work-related team events, the rising demand for NFT-linked personalized avatars and digital clothing in the fashion industry with, enhanced education through learn-to-earn models or immersive classrooms in education, and more.
Amna balances a demanding career with her enthusiasm for fashion (wearing elegantly embellished outfits that proudly reflect her Pakistani roots), photography, and her passion for writing poignant poetry on Instagram @amnamusings. Referring to herself on social media as “Keeping it Surreal”, she also shares her love of ‘magical stars’, animals, birds, and being ‘legit obsessed with flowers,’ describing them as ‘the jewelry that nature adorns,’ and confessing ‘nature is my salvation.’ Amna also has a sense of humor, particularly finding “puns” funny, and has a “Pun intended” highlights section on her personal Instagram.
Personal Facebook snippets show a glimpse of Amna’s fun, softer side – logically explaining about ‘having chocolate for no reason at all,’ rewarding herself with freshly baked brownies and her emphasis on kindness, compassion and hope as a way of life. She wrote and shared uplifting poetry during the covid lockdown to help uplift others through those trying times.
Her authentic belief in the potential of blockchain, web3 and the Metaverse reflects in her remark that ‘imagination is the only limit, so there is immense potential for creativity to ignite, which is exciting for innovation.” She’s optimistic that ‘if we look at the long term and the bigger picture, it’s truly inspiring how we can use these frontier technologies as transformational tools for good and together change our world for the better.
