USDY Combinator Sends First $500,000 USDC Investment on Solana
Totalis funding coincides with Solana’s record $1.1 trillion quarter
TL;DR
- Y Combinator made its first investment settled fully in stablecoins by sending $500,000 in USDC on Solana to Totalis.
- Y Combinator said Spring 2026 startups can choose to receive the standard $500,000 investment in USDC on Ethereum, Solana, or Base.
- Solana reached $1.1 trillion in Q1 2026 total economic activity, alongside increases in users, transactions, and stablecoin activity.
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Y Combinator completed its first investment settled entirely in stablecoins by sending $500,000 in USDC on Solana to Totalis, a Spring 2026 batch company described in Y Combinator’s directory as a “derivative layer for prediction markets.” The transfer came as Solana posted $1.1 trillion in total economic activity in Q1 2026.
The transaction was the first completed use of a Spring 2026 funding option that allows Y Combinator-backed startups to receive the accelerator’s standard investment in USDC on Ethereum, Solana, or Base. Y Combinator said, “Today, Y Combinator is announcing that YC-funded startups can choose to receive their funding ($500K) in stablecoins.” Y Combinator also said, “Sending money should be as easy as sending a text message.”
How the Totalis funding was sent
The Totalis payment was described as three onchain transfers. Public transaction hashes were not included in the available details, so the transfer flow could not be independently reconstructed from the provided information.
Y Combinator said the stablecoin option was not limited to crypto-native startups. The accelerator said, “Whether crypto-focused or not, we expect many YC startups to use crypto in some way, from payments to banking to capital raising.” That language positioned the Totalis transfer as the first executed example of a funding path Y Combinator expects to be relevant across its portfolio.
Solana’s Q1 2026 activity reached a record
Solana recorded $1.1 trillion in total economic activity in Q1 2026, marking a new high. That figure represented 28.76% quarter-over-quarter growth and more than 6,558% growth since Q2 2023. Ethereum stood at $1.5 trillion on the same measure, while Solana regained the lead in network fees and revenue generation.
New users rose from about 1.8 million in Q4 2025 to 3.2 million in Q1 2026, a 77.78% increase. Daily active users climbed from 3 million to 4.6 million, a 53.33% increase. Quarterly transactions moved above 10 billion for the first time on Solana.
Stablecoin activity was a major part of that growth. Solana processed more than $2.2 trillion in stablecoin transfer volume during the quarter. Peer-to-peer stablecoin transfer volume reached $832.7 billion, up more than 60.7% quarter over quarter. Intra-stablecoin swaps accounted for more than 27% of all Solana decentralized exchange volume.
Tokenized stock activity also expanded. Solana’s tokenized stock volume reached a weekly record of more than $155 million in swaps and represented more than 98% market share across rival chains. PreStocks recorded its strongest week since launch with more than $95 million in trading volume, while $100,000 in trader incentives flowed through Jupiter and Titan.
Network REV and application revenue remained well below the highs of early 2025 even as total economic activity reached a record, leaving a gap between current onchain activity levels and the fee-rich speculative intensity seen earlier.
FAQ
What did Y Combinator send to Totalis?
$500,000 in USDC on Solana.
How many transfers made up the payment?
Three onchain transfers.
What does Y Combinator call Totalis?
A “derivative layer for prediction markets.”
What was Solana’s Q1 2026 total economic activity?
$1.1 trillion.
This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.
