Y Combinator has announced that it has teamed up with Base and Coinbase Ventures to develop Fintech 3.0 companies.
According to a blog post made on 23 September 2025, the three companies have opened applications to these Fintech 3.0 firms, underlining that they were looking for themes such as advancing stablecoins beyond the dollar into local currencies, tokenizing assets, including stocks and credit markets, and creating consumer-facing applications such as AI-driven financial agents.
Moving the financial industry on-chain
Y Combinator, Base, and Coinbase Ventures are committed to overall improving the financial industry by moving it on-chain. Recently, to further support this, Base, the Ethereum overlay blockchain attached to Coinbase, joined forces with Shopify to provide global USDC payments. The move enabled consumers to pay with USDC on Base through Shopify Payments, delivering on-chain payments to an expanded number of storefronts. The two companies sought to facilitate payments that were efficient, cost-effective, global, and on-chain.
Now, by joining forces, Y Combinator, Base, and Coinbase Ventures intend to further advance these efforts. According to Base’s officials, the company focuses on building a global economy that scales innovation, creativity, and freedom. To achieve this, Base advises more founders to develop on-chain businesses so that anyone, regardless of their location, can participate in the global economy.
Favourable US crypto market
The three companies’ initiative follows the US lawmakers’ decision to work on clarifying crypto regulations. For example, the GENIUS Act, a US rule governing stablecoins signed into law by President Donald Trump in July 2025, centres on providing federal clarity by directing regulators to offer specific regulatory requirements for stablecoin issuers. Additionally, lawmakers across the region plan to continue to clarify the broader crypto market structure legislation.
Furthermore, as detailed by Base, infrastructure maturity also played a role in the decision to start this initiative, as Layer 2 chains have matured substantially, making it easier and cheaper for developers to build and for individuals to transact on-chain. Also, market demand increased significantly, with real-world crypto adoption continuing to boost across the world.
