Stripe and Paradigm have taken their blockchain ambitions public today with the launch of Tempo’s open testnet, a payments-optimized Layer-1 designed to bring stablecoin transactions into the mainstream.
The debut arrives with heavyweight partners including Mastercard, UBS, Klarna, Visa, Deutsche Bank, Shopify, and Kalshi, positioning Tempo as one of the most serious attempts yet to integrate blockchain rails into global finance.
A New Layer-1 Purpose-Built for Payments, Not Trading
Tempo is a completely new blockchain, built from scratch rather than forked from an existing network. The project is incubated by Stripe and Paradigm and led by Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang, signaling deep conviction from both fintech and crypto’s top builders.
The mission is direct: create a blockchain that behaves like a modern payments network, not a general-purpose chain overloaded with speculative traffic.
Key structural features include:
- •High throughput above 100,000 TPS, matching traditional payment processors.
- •Sub-second finality, making blockchain payments feel instant for users.
- •Predictable fees around one-tenth of a cent, avoiding gas-price volatility.
- •Stablecoin-native design, where fees are payable in U.S. dollar stablecoins via an enshrined AMM.
- •No separate gas token, eliminating a major onboarding barrier for mainstream users.
- •Full EVM compatibility, allowing Solidity developers to deploy instantly.
Tempo is built on Reth, Paradigm’s high-performance Ethereum client, giving the chain efficiency while preserving the familiar Ethereum developer environment.
A Core Piece of Stripe’s End-to-End Stablecoin Strategy
Tempo is not launching alone; it’s part of Stripe’s expanding stablecoin stack.
- •Bridge, Stripe’s stablecoin issuance platform
- •Privy, Stripe’s wallet infrastructure acquisition
- •Tempo, the settlement layer connecting it all
Together, these components create a closed-loop architecture where issuing, storing, and spending stablecoins happen natively on infrastructure optimized for payments.
This is a notable shift for Stripe, which has long been cautious toward crypto but now appears committed to stablecoin rails as a major part of its global payments strategy.
Public Testnet Opens the Door for Real-World Use Cases
The launch of the public testnet allows developers and enterprises to begin experimenting with payment flows, global transfers, merchant settlements, remittances, and embedded financial products.
New partners announced today highlight the breadth of the network’s ambitions:
- •Klarna, which already launched KlarnaUSD on the testnet
- •Mastercard, exploring integrations for global settlement
- •UBS, evaluating regulated financial use cases
- •Kalshi, looking at stablecoin payments for prediction markets
These join earlier design partners like Visa, Deutsche Bank, and Shopify, showing Tempo’s appeal across fintech, banking, commerce, and capital markets.
Klarna’s stablecoin will migrate to Tempo mainnet in 2026, marking one of the first large consumer brands to issue a stablecoin specifically for real-world transactions.
A Permissioned Start, With a Path to Full Decentralization
Tempo will initially run as a permissioned Proof-of-Stake network, with a curated validator set drawn from partners. This allows predictable performance and regulatory comfort as the system scales.
The long-term plan is very different. Tempo aims to become a fully permissionless, neutral Layer-1, removing governance control from its early backers and opening validation to a global participant base.
This phased rollout mirrors strategies used by enterprise-friendly chains transitioning toward open decentralization, allowing stability early while creating room for growth later.
A Major Moment for Stablecoins and Real-World Payments
By eliminating volatile gas fees and building for speed, Tempo attempts to solve the biggest obstacles preventing stablecoins from powering mass-market payments. The result is a Layer-1 that behaves less like a DeFi playground and more like a global settlement network designed for everyday financial activity.
If Tempo succeeds at enterprise adoption, it could become one of the most influential building blocks in the shift toward onchain financial infrastructure.