Every single crypto thing is ultimately a scam. Even if the owners don’t intend it to be a scam, somebody somewhere is getting scammed.
In this case, YC is probably getting scammed and possibly the founders of this startup. But I’m sure if you dig deeper there is plenty of other shady crap too.
So is cooking meth, writing malware, or illegal arms trading. Surely we should expect YC to have slightly higher standard than "we'll fund literally anything which can make a profit"?
I can totally understand being interested in crypto in 2010. It was a genuinely novel use of technology, which seemingly had a lot of potential. But it's 2025 now, and the primary use has turned out to be crime. I mined some Bitcoin back then, and even sold it on Mt. Gox. But these days? Wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.
If you think the majority of crypto is in crime, then I can't help you.
Think of it this way - 500 years from now, will societies still be using paper/polymer notes along with silver/tin/brass alloys for coins, or will they be 100% by then? If digital, would you want sovereign control over your assets via open source solutions, or would you be happy that the government with its closed source systems, made by backchannel private no-contest contracts, controls your ability to pay and get paid?
