Stripe and Paradigm Launch Tempo: A New Blockchain for Stablecoin Payments

September 5, 2025 — Payments giant Stripe, in collaboration with crypto investment firm Paradigm, has unveiled Tempo, a groundbreaking Layer 1 blockchain designed specifically for stablecoin-based payments and real-world financial transactions. Announced on September 4, 2025, Tempo aims to revolutionize global payment infrastructure by offering a high-performance, enterprise-grade platform optimized for speed, efficiency, and regulatory compliance ^[1].

Led by Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang, who also serves as Tempo’s inaugural CEO, the blockchain is currently operating in a private testing phase ^[2], with select partners testing applications such as cross-border payouts, business-to-business payments, and remittances. Tempo’s design prioritizes stablecoin neutrality ^[3], allowing transactions and gas fees to be paid in any stablecoin, facilitated by a built-in automated market maker (AMM). This eliminates the need for volatile native tokens, reducing friction and exposure to crypto market volatility for users.

About Stripe and Its Core Business

Stripe ^[8], founded in 2010 by brothers Patrick and John Collison, is a global technology company that provides a leading online payment processing platform. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, with additional offices in Dublin, Ireland, Stripe’s core business focuses on enabling businesses of all sizes to accept payments, manage transactions, and streamline financial operations over the internet. Its suite of tools includes payment gateways, subscription management, fraud prevention, and financial reporting, catering to e-commerce platforms, marketplaces, startups, and enterprises worldwide.

Stripe’s platform is known for its developer-friendly APIs, which allow businesses to integrate payment processing seamlessly into their websites, mobile apps, and other digital services. The company supports a wide range of payment methods, including credit cards, digital wallets, and local payment systems, across more than 135 currencies. Beyond payments, Stripe offers solutions like Stripe Billing for recurring payments, Stripe Connect for marketplace payments, and Stripe Atlas for helping entrepreneurs incorporate businesses globally. With a valuation exceeding $65 billion as of 2025, Stripe processes hundreds of billions of dollars in transactions annually, serving clients like Amazon, Shopify, and Lyft. Its foray into blockchain with Tempo builds on its mission to simplify and accelerate global commerce.

About Paradigm and Its Role in Crypto Innovation

Paradigm ^[9], co-founded in 2018 by Matt Huang and Fred Ehrsam, is a leading investment firm specializing in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Based in San Francisco, Paradigm focuses on accelerating the development of the decentralized web by backing innovative crypto projects and protocols. The firm manages billions in assets and has invested in prominent blockchain ventures, including Coinbase, Uniswap, and Optimism. Paradigm’s mission is to support founders building transformative technologies that redefine finance, technology, and user empowerment through decentralization. Beyond capital, Paradigm provides strategic guidance and technical expertise, leveraging its team’s deep experience in crypto markets—Ehrsam, for instance, is a co-founder of Coinbase. With Matt Huang leading Tempo as CEO, Paradigm’s involvement underscores its commitment to advancing blockchain infrastructure, positioning Tempo as a flagship project to bridge traditional finance and decentralized systems.

A Payments-First Blockchain

Unlike general-purpose blockchains like Ethereum or trading-focused networks, Tempo is purpose-built for payments. Built on Reth ^[4], an Ethereum execution client, it maintains Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility, enabling developers to leverage existing Ethereum tools and smart contracts. The platform boasts impressive performance, targeting over 100,000 transactions per second ^[5] with sub-second finality, achieved through a dedicated payments lane that separates routine transactions from complex smart contract operations.

Tempo’s key features include predictable low fees, opt-in privacy settings for transactions, and compliance hooks to meet anti-money laundering and know-your-customer regulations. These attributes make it particularly appealing for enterprise use cases, such as global payroll, remittances, tokenized deposits for 24/7 settlement, embedded financial accounts, microtransactions, and AI-driven “agentic payments.”

Strategic Partnerships and Industry Impact

The project has garnered significant support from major players across AI, e-commerce, and financial services, including Anthropic, Deutsche Bank, DoorDash, Nubank, OpenAI, Revolut, Shopify, Standard Chartered, and Visa. These partnerships underscore Tempo’s ambition to bridge traditional finance and blockchain technology, potentially accelerating mainstream adoption of stablecoin-based transactions. Visa’s involvement ^[6], in particular, hints at future integration with existing global payment networks, which could reshape the digital payments landscape.

Stripe’s strategic moves in the crypto space bolster Tempo’s potential. The company’s $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge ^[7], a stablecoin infrastructure platform, and its purchase of crypto wallet provider Privy have equipped Stripe with end-to-end capabilities for stablecoin transactions, from issuance to wallet services. These acquisitions, combined with the passage of the GENIUS Act in July 2025, which provides a clearer regulatory framework for stablecoins in the U.S., position Tempo to capitalize on the rapidly growing $270 billion stablecoin market, projected to reach $2 trillion by 2025 and $4 trillion by 2035.

A Competitive Landscape

Tempo enters a competitive field alongside other stablecoin-focused blockchains, such as Circle’s Arc, Tether’s Plasma, and Stable. However, its stablecoin neutrality, enterprise-grade infrastructure, and Stripe’s extensive customer base give it a unique edge. Unlike many blockchains that rely on native tokens for fees, Tempo’s flexibility in accepting various stablecoins (e.g., USDC or Stripe’s USDB) streamlines operations for businesses, such as a merchant in Brazil paying for cross-border transactions without converting to volatile cryptocurrencies like ETH or BTC.[]

Stripe CEO Patrick Collison emphasized the platform’s scalability, stating, “Tempo is designed to handle the kind of scale Stripe sees in real-world financial applications, processing tens of thousands of transactions per second with sub-second finality.” He added that even high-speed blockchains like Solana do not fully meet Stripe’s payment-focused requirements, highlighting Tempo’s tailored infrastructure.[]

Looking Ahead

While Tempo remains in its private testnet phase with no official public launch date announced, its development signals a broader shift in the fintech industry toward blockchain adoption. The project’s focus on neutrality, decentralization, and real-world utility aligns with Stripe’s mission to streamline global payments. Paradigm’s announcement also emphasized plans to transition to a permissionless validator model, further enhancing the platform’s decentralization.

As stablecoins gain traction as a faster, cheaper alternative to traditional banking rails like SWIFT, Tempo is poised to play a pivotal role in the digitization of global finance. With its robust technical foundation, strategic partnerships, and alignment with regulatory clarity, Tempo could redefine how businesses and consumers interact with digital payments, paving the way for a new era of financial infrastructure.