End cards w/ external links is a feature available to YPP members today but we're working on building out separate eligibility criteria so channels below the threshold can still use it. Will share more once the criteria is ready and won't remove access to the feature before then!https://twitter.com/DeadSiriusGames/status/953622438905966593 …
That feature is not a part of YPP and is not going away. You can still live stream, schedule uploads and upload custom thumbnails as long as your account is verified (http://youtube.com/verify ).