Fintech 3.0: Now Is The Best Time To Build In Crypto

We have entered the golden age of crypto building: the infrastructure is ready—stablecoins, fast chains, simpler wallets—so now it is on founders to assemble them into magical, global products.

Thrilled to have Jesse Pollack. We both think there has never been a better time to build. Walk us through FinTech 1.0 to 3.0.

FinTech 1.0 was 1990s online payments like PayPal. FinTech 2.0 layered friendlier apps on legacy rails. FinTech 3.0 rewrites the system on programmable money—crypto—so it works better for everyone.

Is this crypto’s ChatGPT moment—and if not, why build now, and what changed under the hood?

Not yet—most people have not felt a magic moment—which is exactly why to build now. Chains have matured, and costs fell from dollars to fractions of a cent on Base and Solana. It is the broadband moment for crypto.

Explain layer one versus layer two, and give builders a good Hello World.

Layer ones like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana are decentralized, censorship-resistant foundations. Layer twos like Base batch and compress transactions atop Ethereum—an HOV lane that scales while inheriting security. Solana pursues scale at layer one—multiple valid paths. Hello World: build a wallet-connected swap UI into an AMM, or write a simple AMM yourself—hundreds to a thousand lines of code, no API keys, instant aha.

On regulation, what held builders back, what is changing, and why did stablecoins break out—beyond remittances, what else excites you?

Unclear rules forced startups to spend as much on lawyers as engineers. Now emerging clarity—stablecoins via the Genius Act and potentially broader tokens via the Clarity Act—plus chain scaling, mature stablecoins, and easier wallets lowers barriers. USDC started slowly; now there are approximately 200 billion dollars in stablecoins because programmable dollars are accessible to anyone globally. Next: local-currency stablecoins—real, naira, rupiah, and more—so economies can digitize without dollarizing. Build composably to support multiple stablecoins.

For U.S.-centric builders, how do Shopify’s new on-chain payments and Coinbase’s protocol open opportunities, and how do founders capture value?

Rewrite legacy payments into compact smart contracts. With Shopify, we reduced millions of lines of code to approximately one thousand, enabling any store to accept USDC on Base. Build acceptance, lending, credit, and trading products that are approximately ten times cheaper and faster by replacing intermediary-choked networks with open on-chain rails—and yes, hide the crypto and deliver a better user experience.

Zooming out, what does tokenization really mean, and what new assets become possible?

Move stocks, bonds, real estate, and debt from legacy books into programmable smart contracts for instant, global, low-cost use—and expect entirely new on-chain asset classes, akin to the leap from newspapers to the social web.

When you invest, what founder traits matter—and where do AI and crypto intersect?

We are not geo-bound; we back builders who understand the tech and are based—work hard, do the right thing, push creative boundaries, team over self. Crypto also gives AI two superpowers: verifiable authenticity and a native money substrate. Agents can call smart contracts directly to transact.

We are seeing Dollar App and Aspora scale stablecoin neobanks, and Courtyard verify collectibles on chain. For tired builders: why persist, and any closing advice?

This time is different—great technical teams are entering as regulatory chill fades. Build a thesis about what is broken, talk to customers daily, and relentlessly prove or disprove. Is YC open for crypto? SPEAKER_01 briefly confirms yes.

I am excited to see hundreds of YC-backed on-chain startups in the coming years.