As 2025 approaches, Y Combinator and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) have shown confidence in cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence (AI).

Their calls for startup proposals highlight stablecoins, AI integration, and their convergence, showing optimism for these technologies.

Y Combinator Pushes Stablecoin Innovation

Y Combinator identifies stablecoins as crucial for digital payments. Stablecoin payment volumes now exceed 20% of Mastercard’s total volume. Nearly 30% of global remittances rely on stablecoins.

Financial institutions like Visa develop platforms for banks to issue their own stablecoins. Stripe’s $1 billion acquisition of Bridge signals growing investor interest in the stablecoin market.

Regulatory prospects for stablecoins in the US appear promising. Y Combinator predicts opportune legislation will arrive soon. The accelerator encourages startups to help businesses manage stablecoins or simplify developer integration.

“At the start of this year, we posted a request for more stablecoin startups and since then things have only gotten better for stablecoins. The black cloud over stablecoins has always been regulation, with several efforts to pass regulation in the US failing. The regulatory future for stablecoins in the US now looks more promising and we expect sensible legislation is on its way soon,” Y Combinator said.

a16z Envisions AI and Crypto Convergence

Meanwhile, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) predicts major advancements in AI and crypto by 2025. The firm anticipates an “AI brain” overhauling industries with advanced analytical capabilities. AI could drive new treatments and biopharma advancements. a16z foresees “infinite games,” where AI enables the development of gaming experiences.

The firm predicts “faceless creators” becoming mainstream as AI generates content. New challengers could disrupt Google’s dominance by offering personalized search experiences powered by AI. a16z also expects AI to play a significant role in defense and energy optimization.

“As networks of AI agents begin to custody their own crypto wallets, signing keys, and crypto assets, we’ll see interesting new use cases emerge. Such use cases include AIs operating or verifying nodes in DePIN (decentralized physical infrastructure networks) — for example, to help with distributed energy. Other use cases range from AI agents becoming real, high-value game players. We may eventually even see the first AI-owned and operated blockchain,” a16z wrote.

These visions create significant opportunities for startups in crypto and AI. Innovations in stablecoin infrastructure and AI-driven tools could attract substantial funding. However, regulatory uncertainties for stablecoins and ethical concerns around AI remain challenges.

Startups must navigate these complexities to deliver meaningful solutions. Success will require balancing technological innovation with trust, usability, and compliance.

Y Combinator and a16z predict a transformative period for cryptocurrency and AI. They believe stablecoins and AI will reshape industries and foster economic growth. As 2025 nears, their insights will guide entrepreneurs in driving the next wave of innovation.

According to PANews, the Ethereum Foundation has published its update on grants for the third quarter of 2024, revealing a total funding amount of $12.848 million. The grants cover a wide range of areas including community education, consensus layer development, cryptography and zero-knowledge proofs, developer experience and tools, execution layer, and Layer 2 solutions.

Community education projects received the largest share of the funding. Notable events supported include the EEA Industry Day conference held in Bangkok, Thailand, and the ETH Pura Vida conference and hackathon in San José, Costa Rica. These initiatives aim to foster greater understanding and engagement within the Ethereum community.

In the technical domain, the foundation continues to back the development of consensus layer clients such as Lighthouse, Nimbus, and Grandine. Additionally, it supports the upgrade and maintenance of development tools like Web3.js and OpenZeppelin's account abstraction contracts. The report also highlights the foundation's financial support for several research projects related to zero-knowledge proofs, underscoring its commitment to advancing cryptographic research.

According to PANews, data compiled by Visa reveals that stablecoin transactions exceeded $700 billion in November, setting a new record and nearing the annual transaction volume of payment giant Visa. Among these transactions, Tether's USDT accounted for $500 billion, with $314 billion conducted on the Tron blockchain and $247 billion on Ethereum. If stablecoins maintain this monthly growth rate, they could achieve an annual transaction volume of $8.4 trillion next year, comparable to Visa's $12.3 trillion in 2023.

This growth is attributed to Tron's low cost and high speed, alongside an increase in stablecoin supply on the Ethereum blockchain. These factors highlight the differing use cases for stablecoins across various blockchains: Tron is more payment-oriented, while Ethereum is predominantly used for DeFi lending. The total market capitalization of stablecoins has also reached a historic high, surpassing $193 billion, further indicating their potential in both the crypto market and mainstream payment sectors.

Japanese anime studio behind Dragon Ball wants to launch a blockchain game

Japanese anime production giant Toei Animation, known for generational series like Dragon Ball, One Piece, and Sailor Moon, has partnered with South Korean blockchain firm Wemade to develop a blockchain game with the working title DenDenGarden.

The game is based on Toeis DenDekaDen intellectual property, launched in partnership with Japanese Web3 company Strata in 2022.

DenDekaDen tells the story of seven Kyoto spirits striving to ascend to godhood.

DenDenGarden concept. (Toei Animation)

The partnership represents a broader trend of Japanese entertainment content integrating with blockchain through gaming and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Earlier this year, Captain Tsubasa Rivals, a blockchain game inspired by the classic football manga, launched on the Japanese gaming ledger Oasys.

While Japans blockchain gaming market has onboarded notable developers like Bandai Namco and Sega, no blockchain game has yet achieved a major breakthrough, Ryo Manzoku, Oasys tech director, said in a recent interview.

This cautious adoption contrasts with South Korea, Wemades stomping grounds, where gamers showed more openness to blockchain games until play-to-earn was banned by local regulators in 2021. Wemades blockchain game MIR4 became a hit after launching in 2020, topping South Koreas download charts before the crackdowns.

Wemades involvement in DenDenGarden also comes as the company is rebuilding its reputation. Its cryptocurrency WEMIX was delisted by major South Korean exchanges in 2022 over allegations of misreported circulation data.

Former CEO Chang Hyun-guk was indicted for falsifying information in August, an accusation he denied in his first trial hearing in September. Chang resigned from his post in March and founder Park Kwan-ho returned as CEO.

Singapore Gulf Bank eyes $50M funding for stablecoin expansion

Bahrain-based Singapore bank is reportedly willing to sell 10% of its equity for its stablecoin expansion. (Satheesh Cholakkal)

Singapore Gulf Bank is reportedly offering 10% of its equity to raise $50 million for the acquisition of a stablecoin payments firm by 2025.

According to insiders cited by Bloomberg, the bank is in talks with a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund and other potential investors to secure the necessary capital.

The targeted acquisition is said to be a stablecoin payments firm based in either the Middle East or Europe.

The Bahrain-based Singapore Gulf Bank is operated by the Singaporean family office Whampoa Group and is backed by Bahrains sovereign wealth fund. It officially commenced operations in early November with the launch of its corporate banking services. 

When approached by Cointelegraph, a spokesperson for Singapore Gulf Bank denied commenting on the rumored fundraising and acquisition plans.

Hong Kong doubles down on crypto hub dreams with tax breaks for the rich

Singapores regional rival Hong Kong has proposed to exempt crypto gains from taxes for hedge funds, private equity firms, and family offices, according to the Financial Times.

The proposal also includes tax exemptions for investments in private credit, overseas property, and carbon credits. It is now open for a six-week consultation period and comes at a time when other governments across the continent are advancing discussions on crypto taxation.

A tax exemption could fuel the growing interest in crypto among Hong Kongs private wealth holders. According to a recent report, 76% of private wealth in Asia has already invested in crypto, with an additional 18% planning to do so in the future.

Asian private wealths change in areas of interest within digital assets. (Aspen Digital)

Hong Kong, renowned as a financial hub and gateway to mainland China, has traditionally attracted businesses with its favorable tax environment, including the absence of capital gains tax, value-added tax (VAT), and inheritance tax. 

The recent proposal to exempt cryptocurrency gains from taxes aligns digital assets with the citys existing capital gains framework, enhancing its appeal to investors in the crypto sector.

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If passed, this tax-friendly regime is expected to draw more crypto investors and businesses as Hong Kong accelerates efforts to establish itself as a regional crypto hub. The city plans to issue 11 additional licenses by year-end, according to Securities Futures Commission CEO Julia Leung.

Meanwhile, HashKey, one of the three licensed exchanges in Hong Kong, has entered a partnership with the citys largest virtual bank, ZA Bank, to allow customers to buy and sell Ether in fiat.

Trons Justin Sun becomes largest investor in Trumps crypto project

Tron blockchain founder Justin Sun has announced a $30 million investment in US president-elect Donald Trumps crypto project, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), becoming its largest investor.

Justin Sun announces investment in Trump’s crypto. (Justin Sun)

Following the investment, WLFI named Sun as an adviser. Sun continues to expand his portfolio of roles, including serving on the advisory board at HTX (formerly Huobi) exchangewhere he is believed to wield a larger influence and as the prime minister of the micronation Liberland.

WLFI, launched in October, has struggled to gain traction due to restrictions limiting token purchases to non-U.S. residents and accredited US investors and a restriction that makes the tokens unsellable. Before Suns involvement, the project had raised just $20 million, far below its $300 million target.

Suns investment boosts total sales to $52 million, enabling Trumps company, DT Marks DEFI LLC, to begin receiving 75% of net revenues as outlined in WLFIs white paper. 

Trump, who serves as the projects chief crypto advocate, has pledged to position the US as the global leader in cryptocurrency during his presidency.

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Crypto scams spike across Asia amid Bitcoin surge

Bitcoins recent bull run has triggered a surge in crypto scams across Asia, prompting regulators and industry groups to issue urgent warnings.

Rising profits for investors means more targets for hackers. (Soumil Kumar)

In China, police report cases where crypto novices are duped into fraudulent platforms promising high returns from Tether (USDT) trading. Many victims, unaware that USDT is a stablecoin designed to maintain a fixed value, fall prey to fabricated claims of guaranteed profits through holding or staking. Scammers often create fake dashboards displaying inflated returns to gain trust and lure victims into making larger investments.

In the Philippines, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) has seen a rise in crypto fraud complaints. Scammers pressure victims with promises of exclusive opportunities, urging them to invest quickly. Once funds are transferred, all communication is cut off.

In Malaysia, the Digital Asset Platform Association (MDAPA) highlights similar schemes targeting seniors and inexperienced investors. Fraudsters frequently pose as agents of regulated exchanges, offering high returns while directing victims to unlicensed platforms.

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