We are entering the era of Fintech 3.0. Regulatory clarity, growing consumer adoption, and low-cost chains have paved the way for a golden age of building in crypto — and at YC, Base, and Coinbase we want to fund builders to seize this moment.

In this episode of Main Function, YC's Harj Taggar and Base's Jesse Pollak sat down to discuss what kinds of companies they're most excited to see, why this is such an exciting time in crypto, and what the future could look like onchain.

More on our latest RFS: https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/build-onchain

Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply
Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs

Chapters:
00:00 – The Golden Age of Crypto
02:00 – Jesse’s Path to Coinbase & Base
04:00 – From Fintech 1.0 to Fintech 3.0
07:00 – Why Lowering Costs Changes Everything
10:00 – L1 vs. L2, Simply Explained
13:00 – How to Build Your First Crypto App
16:00 – Regulation: Bottleneck or Unlock?
19:00 – Stablecoins as the Killer Use Case
23:00 – Beyond the Dollar: Local Stablecoins
27:00 – Tokenization of Assets
31:00 – New Asset Classes & the Creator Economy
35:00 – What Coinbase Looks for in Founders
39:00 – The Future of Crypto in 10 Years