Y Combinator (YC) is an American technology startup accelerator launched in March 2005. YC has invested in nearly 3,000 companies.
According to an official announcement by Y Combinator, YC has officially launched the YC Crypto initiative—a dedicated program for crypto and fintech startups—offering portfolio companies specialized support and discounted access to core infrastructure tools, including wallets, fiat on-ramps, smart contract auditing, blockchain nodes, and on-chain data services.
链节点
Odaily Y Combinator has launched the YC Crypto Deals program to help startups secure grants, Gas fee credits, and crypto infrastructure support from partners such as the Solana Foundation, QuickNode, Helius, and Phantom.
Foundation
Foundation
Helius
Phantom
QuickNode
Solana
According to The Information, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman offered Y Combinator founders $2 million worth of OpenAI tokens in exchange for equity, further strengthening ties with the early-stage startup ecosystem.
According to Stilta’s official press release, on May 19, 2026, Stilta—a litigation-focused, agent-style AI company—announced it had raised $10.5 million in funding, led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from founders and operators of Sana, Legora, OpenAI, Lovable, and Listen Labs, as well as Y Combinator. Founded in 2026 by four former members of McKinsey’s AI practice, Stilta’s AI platform performs reasoning and analysis across 180 million patents, 250 million scientific papers, and over one trillion web archives, helping enterprises conduct patent infringement evidence gathering, clear commercialization pathways, and uncover the value of patent portfolios. Since its launch in February this year, Stilta has signed contracts with companies including Roche, Alfa Laval, and Maersk, as well as three of the world’s top five intellectual property law firms.
Listen
AI social app Status AI has announced the completion of a $17 million seed and Series A funding round, with participation from General Catalyst, Y Combinator, LightShed Partners, and Abstract.The project primarily focuses on developing a gamified AI social media application that allows users to play any role in a virtual world, transforming social media into an interactive entertainment experience. (TechCrunch)
Abstract
Catalyst
Catalyst
Status
According to Fortune, Daniela Amodei, co-founder and president of Anthropic, shared insights on selecting co-founders during a talk at Stanford Graduate School of Business. She advised entrepreneurs to take a trip with potential co-founders before formalizing the partnership—to assess compatibility in real-life, unfiltered interactions. If both parties feel energized and eager for more after the trip ends, that person is likely an ideal co-founder; if instead they need to “recover from the vacation,” it’s a red flag worth serious consideration. Amodei noted that most of Anthropic’s seven co-founders had worked together for up to 15 years—many previously at OpenAI—where they developed mature feedback mechanisms and shared strong alignment on the company’s vision, forming the core foundation of the team’s success. Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, likewise observed that in failed startups, founders often overlooked their co-founders’ character and commitment—not their competence. Andy Dunn, co-founder of Bonobos, proposed five concrete evaluation methods: stress testing, time testing, role division, among others. Jeff Rosenthal, co-founder of CIV, recommended that both parties independently draft their visions for the company in writing, then engage in “pen-pal-style” correspondence to ensure strategic alignment and shared expectations.
Andy
Jeff
According to The Block, Y Combinator will hold its first interview event in New York focused on startups in the cryptocurrency and fintech sectors, aiming to support more companies in these fields. Selected teams will join YC’s Summer 2026 batch and travel to San Francisco to participate in the program, receiving YC’s standard $500,000 investment offer—funds that can optionally be disbursed in Circle’s USDC stablecoin.
Block
Circle
The Block
Odaily Startup Incubator Y Combinator will hold its first-ever interview session specifically for fintech and crypto startups in New York City, aiming to support more companies in this sector. The interviews will be held offline on May 21st. Selected startups will join the Summer 2026 batch and receive a standard investment of $500,000. Chosen projects can opt to receive funding in the form of USDC stablecoins. To date, Y Combinator has invested in over 150 crypto and fintech companies, including Coinbase, OpenSea, and Kalshi.
Circle
Coinbase
Kalshi
Startup
According to The Block, renowned startup accelerator Y Combinator has completed its first fully stablecoin investment, paying $500,000 in USDC to prediction market startup Totalis via three on-chain transactions on Solana. The funds are held in custody by Ramp, a financial operations platform. Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan stated that the accelerator will make stablecoin payments available to all YC-backed startups—not limited to crypto-related companies. Totalis plans to use Ramp to execute both stablecoin and fiat transactions simultaneously and to pay credit card bills from its stablecoin account.
Block
Circle
Solana
The Block