Silicon Valley shifts AI funding to crypto using an Ethereum ICO blueprint

Y Combinator wants to fund crypto startups that make AI fundraising easier, expand stablecoin banking, and build financial tools for agents, according to its October request for founders.

Visiting partner Nemil Dalal shared the call on Oct. 28, saying YC wanted to fund more crypto companies solving financial needs. Its October Crypto Request for Startups sets out its funding interests for the next six months, spanning capital raising, stablecoins, trading and agents.

The AI capital-raising request connects AI businesses' financing needs with crypto's fundraising history. YC describes investment in AI as one of the largest capital-raising events in human history and points to Ethereum's initial coin offering as a precedent for blockchain fundraising, asking founders to make AI capital raising easier, leaving the financing structure open.

YC and Coinbase's Sept. 23, 2025 request already sought stablecoins, tokenization, trading, on-chain capital formation and apps and agents. The October document gives AI capital raising an explicit place within that continuing financing agenda.

YC wants dollar stablecoin products that reach new customer or merchant groups, stablecoins in additional currencies, and neobanks serving people or businesses that existing providers underserve.

Global contractors and international businesses are examples of banking services. The document also points to gaming as a possible customer segment for dollar stablecoins, pairing the choice of user with the need for a distribution strategy.

Distribution is an explicit part of the dollar-stablecoin request: founders must identify a group that benefits from the product and work out how to reach it. The neobank category adds a requirement to manage risk effectively while providing banking services to an underserved segment.