Stripe and Paradigm have officially launched Tempo, a new layer-1 blockchain designed specifically for stablecoin payments infrastructure. The announcement, made on September 4, 2025, by Paradigm founder Matt Huang, confirms earlier speculation sparked when Stripe posted and quickly deleted blockchain engineering job listings in August.
Tempo operates on a private testnet with select partners, including major firms like Visa, Deutsche Bank, Shopify, OpenAI, Revolut, and Nubank. These design partners are testing cross-border payouts, B2B payments, remittances, and other real-world financial workflows. The blockchain is EVM-compatible, built on Reth, and optimized for payment-specific functionality, processing over 100,000 transactions per second with sub-second finality.
Key features include a dedicated payments lane separating routine transactions from complex smart contracts, stablecoin neutrality (allowing any stablecoin for payments or gas fees), a built-in automated market maker for seamless conversions, opt-in privacy transactions, and compliance hooks for regulatory requirements. Tempo aims to support global payouts, embedded financial accounts, fast remittances, tokenized deposits, microtransactions, and automated payments.
The project is led by Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang, with Simon Taylor, a fintech expert formerly of 11:FS and Sardine, joining full-time. Tempo is positioned as complementary to existing general-purpose blockchains rather than a direct competitor, aligning with Circle's recent unveiling of Arc, another multi-chain infrastructure for stablecoin transactions.
