Crypto Startups

YC says crypto apps are now institution-led, with stablecoin banks and RWA in focus

Y Combinator said in its October 2026 crypto startup directions report that institutional demand, not consumer speculation, drove crypto application growth over the past year. The firm pointed to practical financial use cases such as hedging oil price risk and moving corporate funds across borders more cheaply and quickly. In the same report, YC said tokenization is likely to expand beyond stablecoins to assets including equities, debt, commodities and home ownership rights, while startup equity and sub-$10,000 securities could also be issued onchain. For the next six months, YC said it wants founders to build in six areas: blockchain-based financing for AI, new dollar and non-dollar stablecoins for niche markets, stablecoin-native banks, real-world asset tokenization, new trading platforms and interfaces, and infrastructure for AI agent trading and APIs. YC also said blockchain could challenge traditional stock exchanges, while stablecoins could pressure the banking system by replacing parts of the process currently handled by intermediaries.

190

Solana

3 days agoNews Editor

Solana Foundation offers $50,000 grants to Solana builders on Y Combinator

Solana said builders developing on Solana through the Y Combinator platform will be eligible for a $50,000 grant from the Solana Foundation, along with additional support. The announcement came from the project’s official X account, @solana. Solana also noted that the deadline to apply to Y Combinator is Nov. 2. In the Y Combinator post cited by Solana, the startup accelerator said it was excited to fund more crypto startups addressing financial needs. The areas mentioned in that post included AI financing, stablecoins, trading and agents. The update points to a funding path for teams building on Solana within the Y Combinator ecosystem, while also highlighting the application timeline for founders seeking entry through the program.

170

Y Combinator

3 days agoNews Editor

Y Combinator crypto startup guide highlights tokenization, stablecoins and AI agents

Y Combinator has released a startup guide for the crypto sector, saying the industry’s growth over the past year was driven by institutions rather than consumers for the first time. The firm said crypto use cases are shifting away from speculative trading and toward practical financial demand, including oil hedging and cross-border corporate fund flows, and it expects adoption to keep accelerating. The guide points to a broader tokenization wave across asset classes. Y Combinator said the scope could expand from stablecoins and stocks to real estate ownership, debt and commodities. It also said startup equity and smaller assets that were previously difficult to securitize may reach the market through on-chain issuance. Around those assets, the firm expects financial infrastructure such as trading, lending and derivatives to keep developing, with AI agents potentially becoming meaningful market participants. For the next six months, Y Combinator said it is paying close attention to AI financing, U.S. dollar and other currency stablecoins, new banking models, real-world asset tokenization, trading platforms and crypto API infrastructure built for AI agents. It added that pressure on traditional financial institutions is also opening room for a new generation of fintech startups.

180

Y Combinator

4 months agoNews Editor

Y Combinator’s Fall 2026 RFS puts defense, physical-world AI and crypto startups in focus

Y Combinator has released its Fall 2026 Requests for Startups, built around a broad thesis that AI is moving beyond chatbots and coding assistants into the physical world. The accelerator said generative AI is starting to reshape education, healthcare, finance, defense, energy, infrastructure and the way people work. One of the most unusual entries in this year’s batch came from U.S. Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll, who directly called on founders to build defense technology for areas such as low-cost intercept systems, drones, next-generation sensors, modular military hardware, logistics, extreme-environment equipment and advanced manufacturing, adding that the Army is willing to provide funding and testing environments for promising products. YC’s list also spans AI tutoring for children, cloud infrastructure for small software tools, collaborative multi-user AI systems, offshore AI compute, consumer AI products, aging-related services, software for managing human workers alongside AI agents and robots, real-world data collection, human verification systems to counter deepfakes, AI-driven compliance infrastructure and self-maintaining APIs. In crypto, YC partner Nemil Dalal argued that a market downturn remains a strong time to start, pointing to capital raising, new stablecoins and stablecoin applications, agentic commerce, trading, institutional products, and scalable private blockchains as areas to watch.

2740

SEC

4 months agoNews Editor

SEC sets July 16 meeting for Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is scheduled to hold a meeting of its Small Business advisory committee on July 16, with the agenda centered on financing and capital formation. While the session is not designed specifically for the crypto sector, rules governing small-business capital raising often overlap with discussions around token fundraising and related compliance questions. That matters for crypto startups operating in the same funding environment as other early-stage companies. Even if token sales are not explicitly listed on the agenda, any shift in the rules discussed at the meeting could affect how these firms approach compliance. The item, cited by Techub News with reference to Bitcoinist, frames the meeting as a possible signal for watching whether the SEC is leaning toward policy modernization or tighter boundaries. The report also notes that regulatory processes move slowly, but they still define the limits within which companies can operate safely. For market participants tracking U.S. policy, the July 16 meeting is therefore relevant beyond its formal small-business focus.

1930

Erebor Bank

4 months agoNews Editor 01

Palmer Luckey and Peter Thiel Back Erebor Bank to Target the Post-SVB Crypto Startup Gap

Erebor, a proposed U.S. national bank backed by Palmer Luckey, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, and Joe Lonsdale’s 8VC, aims to serve crypto, AI, and defense startups after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

930

Erebor Bank

4 months agoNews Editor 01

Palmer Luckey and Peter Thiel Back Erebor Bank to Target the Post-SVB Gap for Crypto Startups

A new bank called Erebor, backed by Palmer Luckey, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, and Joe Lonsdale’s 8VC, is seeking a U.S. national bank charter to serve crypto, AI, and defense startups after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

790