Visa has taken a significant step into blockchain infrastructure by becoming an "anchor validator" on the Tempo blockchain, a network incubated and backed by payments giant Stripe. This marks Visa's first direct operation of blockchain validator nodes, configured and managed entirely in-house after six months of joint engineering work with the Tempo team to integrate the card network's infrastructure directly into the blockchain.
Cuy Sheffield, head of Visa's crypto team, revealed that the company's blockchain engineers have focused on stablecoins for the past seven years. The current strategic focus, however, is on supporting new payment flows, particularly "machine-to-machine commerce using AI agents." Sheffield stated, "We've been an early design partner, working very closely with the Tempo team, looking at designing infrastructure that can support many types of new payment flows, and particularly agentic payment flows."
Tempo, which is also backed by crypto investment firm Paradigm, launched its Machine Payments Protocol (MPP) last month. This protocol enables software and AI agents to autonomously pay for services. Visa is deeply integrated into this ecosystem, having contributed the MPP card specification and launched Visa CLI, a wallet built on MPP that allows agents to spend using a Visa card. "We've been deeply involved in the Tempo and the MPP ecosystem, and now we're running the underlying infrastructure on Tempo," Sheffield added.
The move is part of a broader institutional push into stablecoin infrastructure. Stripe entered the stablecoin space by acquiring specialist firm Bridge for $1.1 billion in 2024, and Mastercard made a similar move by buying BVNK for $1.8 billion earlier this year. Visa plans to extend its validator operations to other blockchains following the Tempo integration, including joining the Canton Network as a "Super Validator."
Sheffield addressed potential concerns about decentralization, emphasizing a pragmatic approach focused on utility. "Our view has always been that decentralization is a spectrum... I think we're now entering a phase in the crypto industry where decentralization is not the primary value prop. It's whether a new payment infrastructure is fast, efficient, programmable and can outperform some existing payment infrastructure for certain use cases," he said.
Tempo, an Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 blockchain designed for high-throughput stablecoin payments and settlement, has seen significant institutional validator growth. Alongside Visa and Stripe, Zodia Custody (backed by Standard Chartered) also operates a validator, strengthening the network's operational capacity for institutional-grade settlement. The network, which emerged from a $500 million Series A round at a $5 billion valuation, integrates services like RedStone for pricing feeds and supports the omnichain stablecoin USDT0 to enhance liquidity and interoperability.
