Y Combinator rolls out new deal package for crypto startups

Y-Combinator, one of the leading startup accelerators, offered a crypto package for fintech startups. The crypto deal offers curation and help with crypto infrastructure. 

Y-Combinator showed crypto infrastructure is still essential and is here to stay. The leading venture capital firm and startup accelerator aims to enable more crypto startups and support builders with a wider toolset. 

As Web3 and decentralized technologies are already well-established, Y-Combinator has already curated a list of the most common building tools for a smoother startup launch. The offer  brings more attention to Web3 founders from a mainstream VC fund, at a time when interest in crypto is more subdued. 

Y-Combinator has focused on stablecoin companies, API providers, and other startups with the goal of making Web3 access more seamless. Previous deals include companies like Infinite, a B2B stablecoin payment processor.

New accelerator program participants will have access to gas credits, access to nodes for specific networks, wallets, fiat on-ramps and swap facilities. The new offerings will be known as the Y Combinator crypto deals. The tools will also include on-chain data and audit services. 

Despite the weakening crypto prices, Y-Combinator is dedicated to crypto startups. Y-Combinator is a Tier-1 fund with 83 crypto investments as a main source, and 391 co-investments in the crypto space. 

Startups will have preferential access to services and infrastructure from Coinbase, Stripe, Phantom, the Solana Foundation, Circle, and more. The Web3 services are time-tested and reliable, avoiding the risks of building small Web3 startups with niche access tools, prone to exploits and hacks.

Y-Combinator offers crypto backing to selected teams

Eligible teams may have access to two main crypto packages. The YC Crypto starter pack is available for YC companies before acceptance. The services will be available to hackathon or meetup participants, and will be exclusive to YC events. 

The starter pack is similar to the AI credit offerings, which add $20K in cloud credits and over $5,000 in credits for GPT, Claude, or Grok. 

For teams already accepted and funded by Y Combinator, the requirements for the crypto pack include $10K in support value for network expenses, viable for two years. Y-Combinator also offers one year of free services and two years of 50% discounts. 

The startup accelerator will start its selection process based on new batches of submissions, and may change its offer based on builder feedback. Currently, Y-Combinator is seeking submissions from crypto startups, fintech and crypto-adjacent startups. 

Y-Combinator focuses on infrastructure startups

To date, Y-Combinator has a negative 54% return on its crypto startup investments, based on Cryptorank data. Despite this, the accelerator has not given up on crypto startups. Payments and payment platforms make up nearly a third of Y-Combinator investments, with a strong focus on other fintech startups, API services, and developer tools. 

Y-Combinator combines its focus on fintech with eligible projects based on stablecoins and decentralized finance. Based on Cryptorank data, Y-Combinator was the most active investor in fintech for 2025. 

Previously, the accelerator boosted leading companies like Coinbase and participated in the NFT boom through OpenSea. Overall, Y-Combinator has focused on the mainstream potential of crypto technology, especially stablecoins and payment gateways.

Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free.