# RFS Articoli collegati

From 24 to 1 to 5: YC No Longer Invests in Crypto, But Crypto Hasn't Disappeared

The article analyzes Y Combinator's shifting investment focus in crypto-related startups, highlighting a transition from direct crypto infrastructure to applications leveraging crypto as an underlying utility. Key data shows YC's crypto investments peaked in 2022 with 44 companies (e.g., DeFi protocols, NFT infrastructure), then sharply declined to just 1 in Summer 2024. The Winter 2026 batch includes 5 crypto-related companies, but they represent a fundamental shift: none are building traditional crypto products like chains or protocols. Instead, they focus on practical solutions where crypto is invisible to end-users. Examples include Unifold (Stripe-like API for crypto deposits), SpotPay (stablecoin-based neobank for cross-border payments), and Sequence Markets (execution engine for digital assets). Two notable projects are highlighted: Orthogonal, building a payment gateway for AI agents using crypto for machine-to-machine microtransactions, and Forum, creating a regulated "attention exchange" to trade quantified cultural focus, potentially involving tokenization. YC's recent Request for Startups (RFS) guidance confirms this trend, explicitly prioritizing "stablecoin financial services" and "new financial primitives" over generic crypto/Web3 themes. The author concludes that YC is no longer investing in crypto for its own sake, but in companies using crypto as a tool to solve real problems—often without users realizing it. This signals a maturation where crypto's value lies in becoming embedded infrastructure for other industries, particularly AI and finance, rather than a standalone ecosystem.

marsbit02/14 10:34