Crypto is dead? Apparently not, says Y Combinator – Blockchain is still worth building

Despite frequent claims that crypto is dead, Y Combinator maintains that blockchain remains a worthwhile area for startup development. This sentiment was highlighted in Y Combinator's ranking of the top startup opportunities for 2026. Crypto was placed alongside AI, healthcare, defense, enterprise software, and climate technology, which caught the attention of the author.

Y Combinator's interest in crypto was not due to traditional startup ventures like Layer 1 development, memecoins, NFT marketplaces, or yield farming protocols. Instead, Y Combinator emphasized the need for stablecoin financial services, crypto infrastructure, institutional crypto products, tokenized assets, and agentic commerce.

This shift suggests that crypto is transitioning from an innovative layer to a foundation for other innovations, transitioning from an industry to an infrastructure. Such a transformation is being noticed throughout the broader ecosystem. For instance, Stripe has introduced Stablecoin Financial Accounts that enable businesses worldwide to hold and transfer digital dollars, bypassing traditional banking systems.

Visa is also developing stablecoin settlement and tokenized asset initiatives, while PayPal is expanding the use of its PYUSD stablecoin beyond blockchain-based payments. In Southeast Asia, GCash has partnered with Ava Labs to tokenize EURC, USDC, and USDT on Avalanche through GCrypto, allowing users to make payments in digital dollars using the popular local app.

These developments indicate that the competition among various Layer 1s is turning into a race to facilitate the adoption of digital assets as financial instruments by banks, payment processors, asset managers, governments, and enterprises. Major players in traditional finance, such as BlackRock's BUIDL, Stellar's long-term journey to enable cross-border value transfers, and the partnership between MoneyGram and UNHCR, are all contributing to this shift.

Traditional finance's growing consensus is that digital assets will become an integral part of the financial ecosystem. However, the integration of crypto into traditional finance is more complex and nuanced than previously thought. DeFi is undergoing a transformation as protocols prioritize efficiency and pragmatism over limitless possibilities.

Payment apps, enterprise software, payroll processors, and AI agents are increasingly enabling daily crypto transactions globally, making the end-user experience indistinguishable from transactions settled on established ledgers. Ripple's collaboration with banks and central banks on CBDC pilots, and Hedera's usage by organizations exploring tokenization and digital identity, demonstrate the industry's competitive edge shifting from speculation to financial infrastructure.

Consequently, it is understandable why Y Combinator continues to consider crypto as one of the major startup opportunities for the upcoming decade.