Why Now Is The Best Time To Build In Crypto

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