Silicon Valley shifts AI funding to crypto using an Ethereum ICO blueprint

Y Combinator wants to fund crypto startups that make AI fundraising easier, expand stablecoin banking, and build financial tools for agents, according to its October request for founders.Visiting partner Nemil Dalal shared the call on Oct. 28, saying YC wanted to fund more crypto companies solving financial needs. Its October Crypto Request for Startups sets out its funding interests for the next six months, spanning capital raising, stablecoins, trading and agents.The AI capital-raising request connects AI businesses' financing needs with crypto's fundraising history. YC describes investment in AI as one of the largest capital-raising events in human history and points to Ethereum's initial coin offering as a precedent for blockchain fundraising, asking founders to make AI capital raising easier, leaving the financing structure open.YC and Coinbase's Sept. 23, 2025 request already sought stablecoins, tokenization, trading, on-chain capital formation and apps and agents. The October document gives AI capital raising an explicit place within that continuing financing agenda.Stablecoins, crypto trading and agent accessYC wants dollar stablecoin products that reach new customer or mer...