TechubNews

In 2026, a16z did something strange.
They launched an 8-week fellowship program—but it wasn't training engineers or product managers. Instead, they trained storytellers and content creators. After completing the program, these people were directly deployed into a16z's portfolio companies to help founders with product launches and content distribution.
The world's top-tier VC firm was systematizing how to teach founders to become KOLs.
If you still think "building personal branding" is an optional choice, this signal deserves you to reconsider.
The customer acquisition math doesn't add up anymore
First, here's an uncomfortable number: over the past 10 years, customer acquisition costs (CAC) for consumer products have increased by 222%.
In 2025, Google...

Written by: Sha Lawyer Team
Recently, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Legislative Council have successively released clear signals that the first batch of stablecoin licenses is entering the final stretch, with formal issuance expected before the end of March. Once the news was released, it instantly swept through the crypto community. You see, what confused crypto enthusiasts the most previously was that the stablecoin sector lacked regulatory guidelines—they either took the risk of unlicensed operations and quietly laid out their plans, or without clear regulatory guidance, they wanted to enter the market but had no way to proceed, watching opportunities slip away helplessly.
Since the Stablecoin Ordinance took effect in August 2025, Hong Kong has been continuously advancing license approval work. The imminent issuance of this first batch of licenses fundamentally addresses the pain points of compliance chaos and regulatory ambiguity in the stablecoin industry, clarifying the entire process from license applications, compliant operations, to risk management standards. Today, Sha's team will have a thorough discussion with everyone about what the final landscape of Hong Kong's first batch of stablecoin licenses will look like: License Issuance

As institutional investors shift toward capital preservation, the cryptocurrency market enters a defensive phase, with fund managers reducing risk exposure and increasing cash holdings, with repositioned holdings concentrated in Bitcoin and Ethereum. Market-neutral strategies remain stable, with capital flowing toward mid-sized funds, while family offices and high-net-worth individuals continue to dominate the market. Overall strategy trends toward risk aversion.

In the final week of March 2026, several key moves were made in China's digital yuan landscape.
On March 20, Shanghai Securities News disclosed that digital yuan business operating institutions are expected to undergo a new round of expansion, with 12 joint-stock banks and city commercial banks including CITIC Bank, China Everbright Bank, and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank potentially being added to connect to the central bank's digital yuan system. This means that if the expansion is implemented, the number of digital yuan operating institutions will increase from the current 10 to 22.
At almost the same time, Bank of Communications Shanghai Branch Jing'an Sub-branch successfully completed the first digital yuan currency bridge business under the free trade zone settlement unit, using blockchain technology throughout the entire process for cross-border fund clearing. Two days later, Industrial Bank Changsha Branch processed a cross-border payment business through the currency bridge for a key foreign trade enterprise in Hunan, with a transaction amount reaching 270 million yuan, setting a record for the largest single transaction in Hunan Province.
And just three months before this...

Hong Kong and South Korea jointly established the "Web3 Policy Advancement Alliance," aimed at promoting cooperation between the two regions in digital assets and blockchain through policy initiatives, industry collaboration, and talent exchange. The alliance will facilitate regulatory framework interoperability, enhance regional coordinated development, and support governance and innovation in the global digital economy.

Meta has been ordered to pay $375 million in damages for violating New Mexico law, with a jury finding that the company misled consumers and facilitated child exploitation. An investigation revealed that Meta responded negatively to teenager safety issues and faces multiple allegations of illegal conduct. Meta plans to appeal, claiming the judgment is unjust.

Written by: Ariston

There is a lot of talk about Private Credit, but there are few people who explain it clearly. Traditionally, private credit has always been a B2B model. In other words, large institutions lend money to businesses and support their development while keeping risk under control. For lenders, this has always been a very profitable business model. And wherever there is money to be made, capital flows there.

1) Like private equity institutions, private credit institutions are non-bank lenders; they provide businesses with debt financing. The terms private credit and direct lending are often used interchangeably, but in reality, direct lending is just one part of the broader private credit market

Broadcom emphasized a lateral threat defense strategy to counter AI attacks at the RSAC 2026 conference, noting that AI can rapidly detect vulnerabilities and launch automated attacks. Experts pointed out that existing security measures struggle to counter AI-generated attacks, making it necessary to simplify deployment through platform-centric lateral threat defense and accelerate zero-trust transformation to effectively address complex cyber threats.

Cathodra Bitcoin is seeking a performance turnaround through infrastructure expansion and merger strategies, despite posting a net loss of $9.7 million CAD for fiscal year 2025. The merger with Sphere 3D will enhance its power and hash rate, strengthening its "vertical integration" structure to ensure long-term competitiveness. Additionally, continued facility expansion and diversified revenue models are viewed as key to navigating market volatility. The company plans to achieve capacity expansion and brand rebranding by 2026. While near-term losses persist, long-term growth potential is viewed favorably.

With the increasing adoption of AI in enterprises, there is a growing demand for new infrastructure, particularly in managing multi-cloud environments. Nutanix will explore how to support the delivery and operations of modern applications at the .NEXT event on April 8. Emphasizing data sovereignty and high-performance concurrency, Nutanix is committed to advancing hybrid multi-cloud and AI-driven application delivery.

Written by: Langhao Wei (Will)
This is the fifth article in our YC W26 series analysis. The previous article broke down AI programming tools and "Claude Code for X" (12 companies). This article examines the other half of the development chain—everything after the code is written: operations, testing, workflow automation, Agent development infrastructure, covering 22 companies in total.
Code is Just the Beginning
In the previous article, we discussed how AI is changing "writing code." But writing code is only part of software development—after the code is written, there's deployment, operations, on-call duties, testing, bug fixes, workflow automation, and each step requires people.
What the 22 YC W26 companies are doing is: handing over every step of "after the code is written" to AI.