On-Chain Startup Opportunities

The List

• Money: stablecoins, CBDCs, tokenized bank deposits

• Cash-equivalents: tokenized T-bills, MMFs

• Securities: bonds/equities/funds issued & traded on-chain

• Claims on real things: real estate, commodities receipts, carbon credits

• Cash-flows/rights: royalties, invoices, revenue shares

• Digital goods: NFTs, tickets, game assets, memberships

• Identity/data: credentials, attestations for compliance & access

• Plumbing: cross-chain messaging, tokenized collateral, settlement

The shift to onchain infrastructure presents a robust new paradigm for startups, allowing for greater transparency, efficiency, and programmability across numerous sectors. The following opportunities represent key areas where entrepreneurs can leverage blockchain technology to build innovative and enduring businesses.

Onchain Startup Opportunities

Money: stablecoins, CBDCs, tokenized bank deposits

This area focuses on digitally reinventing the most fundamental financial instruments. Startups can build the next generation of financial rails using stablecoins for instant, low-cost global transfers, or develop the necessary technology for banks to issue tokenized deposits and central banks to launch CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies). This opportunity is centered on creating the underlying, efficient, and programmable digital currency infrastructure for the global economy.

Cash-equivalents: tokenized T-bills, MMFs

A significant opportunity exists in bringing high-quality, low-risk traditional finance products like T-bills (Treasury Bills) and MMFs (Money Market Funds) onto the blockchain. By tokenizing these assets, startups can provide retail and institutional users with direct, transparent, and immediate access to safe-haven yields globally, essentially creating an always-on, borderless market for cash management.

Securities: bonds/equities/funds issued & traded on-chain

This involves moving the issuance and secondary trading of traditional financial securities—such as corporate bonds, private equity, and collective investment funds—onto a blockchain. Startups can build decentralized exchanges, issuance platforms, and compliant infrastructure that streamlines the entire lifecycle of a security, reducing intermediaries, lowering costs, and enabling fractional ownership for a broader investor base.

Claims on real things: real estate, commodities receipts, carbon credits

Tokenizing claims on real-world assets (RWAs) allows for the fractionalization of illiquid assets like real estate and makes them globally tradable. Similarly, issuing commodities receipts and verified carbon credits on-chain provides a transparent and auditable record of ownership. Startups in this space are using blockchain to unlock massive value by enhancing the liquidity, traceability, and accessibility of physical assets.

Cash-flows/rights: royalties, invoices, revenue shares

Programmable tokens can represent future economic rights, creating entirely new financial products. Startups can tokenize expected royalties for creators, transform outstanding invoices into immediately tradable assets, or issue tokens that give holders a direct claim on a business's future revenue shares. This model allows businesses to access capital instantly and provides investors with novel, granular income streams.

Digital goods: NFTs, tickets, game assets, memberships

The use of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) continues to expand beyond art into providing true digital ownership. Startups are building platforms for programmable, verifiable tickets that prevent counterfeiting, creating interoperable game assets that users truly own, and designing sophisticated digital memberships that grant token-gated access to exclusive experiences or content. This opportunity focuses on establishing the core infrastructure for a digital-native ownership economy.

Identity/data: credentials, attestations for compliance & access

Decentralized identity solutions are emerging to give users control over their data and online presence. Startups are building systems for issuing and verifying verifiable credentials (e.g., educational degrees, professional licenses) and formal attestations for compliance (e.g., KYC/AML checks) and access. This area is crucial for creating a more secure, privacy-preserving, and trustless digital layer for all onchain activity.

Plumbing: cross-chain messaging, tokenized collateral, settlement

This category covers the essential infrastructure required to make the entire ecosystem function smoothly. Startups are focusing on "plumbing" elements like secure cross-chain messaging protocols to connect different blockchains, building robust frameworks for tokenized collateral in DeFi, and creating faster, more deterministic settlement layers. These foundational services are critical for the ecosystem to scale reliably and securely.

Conclusion

The range of opportunities across tokenized finance, verifiable digital ownership, and foundational infrastructure confirms that the onchain revolution is maturing and focusing on real-world value creation. This is a fertile environment for builders aiming to enhance the efficiency, transparency, and accessibility of global commerce and finance. We are excited about the potential of these domains, and this aligns with VentureForge's crypto startup plans already in our library, with many more ambitious projects expected to join our portfolio soon.