Stripe & Paradigm Just Dropped a New Blockchain Tempo, Here Are the Details

Stripe and crypto investment firm Paradigm have revealed their latest project: Tempo, a new Layer 1 blockchain designed specifically for stablecoin payments.

The initiative, announced by Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang, is being pitched as a way to move real-world financial activity onto the blockchain at scale.

A payment-first blockchain built for scale

Tempo’s architecture is built on Reth, an Ethereum-compatible framework, and aims to process over 100,000 transactions per second with sub-second settlement times.

Unlike many general-purpose blockchains, Tempo is positioned squarely around payments. It supports stablecoins as both payment and gas, using an enshrined automated market maker (AMM) to make transaction fees predictable and efficient.

Additional features include dedicated payment lanes, support for memos and access lists to streamline compliance needs, and an opt-in privacy option.

Tempo’s EVM compatibility means developers can build with familiar tools while targeting use cases like global payroll, remittances, tokenized deposits, and microtransactions.

Matt Huang summarized the vision in his announcement: “Tempo is purpose-built for stablecoins and real-world payments, born from Stripe’s experience in global payments and Paradigm’s expertise in crypto.”

Early backers and competitive landscape

The project already has a roster of early design partners spanning fintech, banking, and AI. Visa, Deutsche Bank, Revolut, OpenAI, and Shopify are among the companies involved in the testnet stage.

Builders interested in contributing are being invited to join via Tempo’s private testnet, with the team signaling plans to move toward a permissionless validator model over time.

Tempo isn’t entering an empty field. Competitors like Google Cloud’s Universal Ledger and Circle’s Arc are already pushing payment-focused blockchain solutions, while networks like Solana continue to demonstrate high throughput and stability in real-world use.

Some community members like X user @0xMert_, argue that Solana already offers similar technical capabilities, questioning Tempo’s need as a new chain.

Stripe’s move follows its $1.1 billion acquisition of stablecoin platform Bridge in 2024, a sign of the company’s commitment on blockchain infrastructure.

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