"Crypto is dead": Y Combinator's 2025 startup requests spark fears for future of blockchain

Once upon a time, the internet resounded with the sound of investors emptying their pockets and handing money to crypto startups.

Now the venture capitalist Y Combinator's latest "requests for startups" has sparked fears that the party is over once and for all.

The venture capitalist's new list has zero mentions of crypto in any form - prompting concerns that blockchain is yesterday's news.

Greg Isenberg, CEO of Late Checkout, a holding company with a portfolio of internet businesses, also wrote: "Y Combinator JUST announced what startups they want to fund next in 2025. And it's mostly AI that replaces $100k/year job functions."

Is crypto over?

Other commentators were more pessimistic.

Liron Shapira, host of Doom Debates, tweeted: "Anyone notice a trend here? CRYPTO IS F***ING DEAD

"Imagine explaining to tech Twitter in 2021 that YC’s 2025 Request for Startups would have zero mention of crypto, Web3, blockchain, NFT, play-to-earn, DAO, DeFi, DeSo, zk-SNARK, Bored Apes, $ShibaInu, etc

"IT’S ALL F***ING DEAD."

Or is it?

In the tweet below written earlier this week, the VC announced that it has launched Karsa - a global dollar account that enables people in emerging markets to buy and save in stablecoins to protect against currency instability.

Karsa is actually the second crypto-related startup Y Combinator has unleashed in the past month.

Just eight days ago, it launched BlindPay, a stablecoin API that "helps companies navigate LatAm's complex financial regulations while enabling fast and affordable global payments."

We flicked back through the history of YC’s requests for startups on the Wayback Machine. 

The only mention we could find of crypto was in 2024 when the VC asked for applications from crypto innovators “building B2B and consumer products on top of stablecoins, tools and platforms that enable stablecoin finance and more stablecoin protocols themselves”. 

Whilst YC has now spent almost a decade looking for businesses in the financial services space, it did not appear to mention crypto in previous requests for startups over the past 20 years (get in touch if you think we’re wrong and we’ll correct this piece - then shamefacedly admit our mistake).

With Bitcoin soaring to record highs and President Trump controversially releasing his own meme coin, it looks like the death of crypto has been greatly exaggerated - for now.

What type of startup is Y Combinator looking to fund?

Here is the full list of Y Combinator's preferred startups.

• 1) A secure AI app store: Developing a platform that offers vetted AI applications with user-controlled data access, ensuring privacy and security.
• 2) Data centres: Innovating in the construction and operation of data centres to support the growing infrastructure demands of AI, focusing on faster build times and cost efficiency.
• 3) Compliance and audit: Creating tools to help companies manage compliance and auditing processes, especially in regulated industries, to ensure adherence to standards and regulations.
• 4) Docusign 2.0: Reimagining digital document signing and management solutions to enhance security, user experience, and integration capabilities.
• 5) Browser & computer automation: Building solutions that automate repetitive tasks across browsers and computer systems, improving efficiency and productivity.
• 6) AI personal staff for everyone: Developing AI assistants capable of performing a variety of tasks to support individuals in their daily and professional lives.
• 7) Devtools for AI agents: Creating development tools that assist in building, deploying, and managing AI agents, facilitating their integration into various applications.
• 8) The future of software engineering: Innovating in software development methodologies and tools to accommodate the evolving landscape influenced by AI and automation.
• 9) AI commercial open source software (AICOSS): Combining the principles of open-source software with commercial AI applications to foster collaboration and innovation.
• 10) AI coding agents for hardware-optimized code: Developing AI systems that can write code optimized for specific hardware configurations, enhancing performance and efficiency.
• 11) B2A - software where the customers will all be agents: Creating software solutions designed specifically for AI agents as the primary users, enabling seamless interactions between different AI systems.
• 12) Vertical AI agents: Building specialized AI agents tailored for specific industries or functions, providing targeted solutions and expertise.
• 13) Startup founders with systems programming expertise: Encouraging founders with deep knowledge in systems programming to develop innovative solutions addressing low-level computing challenges.
• 14) Inference AI infrastructure in the world of test-time compute: Creating infrastructure solutions that optimize AI inference processes, particularly focusing on efficiency during test-time computations.

It's worth mentioning that even if you are a crypto developer working on something outside the scope of the list above, Y Combinator may still be interested in your idea (although it's quite unlikely still, given the VC has an acceptance rate of about 1%).

"We expect the ideas on this list will only be a small fraction of the ideas we actually fund - but if an idea on this list is something you'd be excited to work on anyway, we hope the fact that we think it's especially promising will give you extra encouragement to dive into it," Y Combinator said in a statement

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