Fintech 3.0: Now Is The Best Time To Build In Crypto
🎯 Summary
[{“key_takeaways”=>[“The current era is defined by the availability of mature crypto tools, shifting the focus from infrastructure development to building magical, scalable user experiences.”, “FinTech 3.0 means rewriting financial systems from the ground up using programmable software platforms, contrasting with FinTech 2.0’s reliance on legacy infrastructure.”, “Massive cost reductions in transaction fees, enabled by Layer 2 scaling solutions like BASE on top of Ethereum, have made consumer applications feasible.”, “Regulatory clarity, though still early, is a crucial unlock, reducing the need for startups to spend disproportionately on legal counsel and allowing them to focus on product development.”, “Stablecoins, particularly USD-pegged ones, have become a killer use case by providing programmable dollars globally, enabling instant, low-cost access to dollar-based finance for underserved populations.”, “A significant opportunity exists in creating local currency stablecoins to empower national economies without risking dollar dominance, applying existing DeFi innovations to local contexts.”, “Founders should look to translate existing, complex financial logic (like escrow, taxes, and refunds in commerce) from millions of lines of legacy code into efficient, few-hundred-line smart contracts.”], “overview”=>”The crypto space has entered a ‘golden age of building’ because the necessary infrastructure—matured chains, low-cost scaling via Layer 2s, and stablecoins—is finally in place. This moment is ideal for entrepreneurs to build transformative consumer and business experiences by rewriting legacy financial systems (FinTech 3.0) rather than just improving them (FinTech 2.0). The convergence of scaling breakthroughs and increasing regulatory clarity is lowering barriers to entry and unlocking massive innovation potential.”, “themes”=>[“The Golden Age of Crypto Building and Infrastructure Maturity”, “The Evolution of FinTech (1.0, 2.0, and 3.0)”, “Blockchain Scaling and Layer 2 Technology (e.g., BASE)”, “The Impact of Regulatory Clarity on Innovation”, “The Rise and Potential of Stablecoins (Global vs. Local)”, “Opportunities for Entrepreneurs: Rewriting Legacy Systems via Smart Contracts”]}]
🏢 Companies Mentioned
💬 Key Insights
"Now that we have the fast chains, we have the scaled stablecoins, we have the mature regulatory environment, we have the easy-to-use wallets. I think the opportunity is basically looking at every single part of the financial system that exists today and figuring out how do we turn that from legacy systems that in many cases are 50 to 100 years old into programmable smart contracts that live on chain."
"At the same time, when I talk to those folks, I think that there is an intuitive feeling of, oh man, we have our own local economy, and we don't want that economy to be dollarized... I think to me, that is one of the most exciting opportunities to lean into [building local stablecoins]."
"Now, I think the thing that stablecoins unlock, which has been the primary thing that's driving this, is they enable programmable money to come into the existing financial system and give in particular programmable dollars to anyone in the world."
"The AI companies definitely get lots of attention, but we have some of these like Dollar App in Latam, Aspora in India. These are essentially neo-bank services that are really built around stablecoins, and their growth rates are incredible."
"So many early stage builders and late stage builders ended up spending like equivalent or more money on lawyers than they were on engineers... If you have to spend more money on lawyers than engineers, how can you apply the YC principles of being customer-centric and doing things that don't scale? Literally you're being forced to do things that much bigger companies should be doing instead."
"And the thing that has shifted over the last few years is that those costs have come massively down. And whether that's with base or Solana, we actually have this scaling that's happening where now you can build those applications and instead of it costing $5 to do something, it costs 5/10 of a cent or 500 of a cent."