Payment giant Stripe launches Tempo, a blockchain platform specializing in stablecoin payments, aiming for a future where stablecoins can be used as a low-fee payment method.

Payment giant Stripe and cryptocurrency investment firm Paradigm have announced a new blockchain called Tempo . Tempo is being developed with a focus on stablecoin payments, and is touted as offering low-cost, fast, and reliable payments.

Tempo: The Blockchain Designed for Payments
https://tempo.xyz/

Introducing Tempo, the payments-first blockchain
https://tempo.xyz/launch-announcement

Stablecoins are virtual currencies designed to maintain the same value as legal tender, such as '1 dollar = 1 stablecoin,' and are becoming increasingly popular as a means of payment and remittance. In Japan, it has been reported that the Financial Services Agency plans to approve the stablecoin ' JPC ,' which is linked to the Japanese yen , in the fall of 2025 , and attention is focused on its future expansion.

Stripe acquired the stablecoin platform Bridge in October 2024 and is committed to promoting stablecoins. However, according to Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, existing blockchains are not optimized for 'high-throughput, low-latency payments using stablecoins.' For example, while real-world payments have value in the fact that fiat currency is used as payment fees, transactions on a blockchain require a unique token as a fee. To solve these problems, Stripe teamed up with Paradigm to develop 'Tempo,' a blockchain optimized for stablecoin payments.

Introducing @Tempo .

At Stripe, we care about high-throughput, low-latency payments use cases. As the use of stablecoins (and crypto more broadly) grows across Stripe, Bridge, and Privy, we found that existing blockchains are not optimized for them.

For example, it's valuable…

— Patrick Collison (@patrickc) September 4, 2025

Tempo was developed with a view to real-time payments on a global scale, and is said to be able to process over 100,000 transactions in less than one second. It also features extremely low transaction fees and the ability to pay fees using stablecoins. These features make Tempo ideal for services such as low-cost international remittances, cross-border payments regardless of currency, sub-cent microtransactions, and tokenized deposits.

Tempo will operate as an independent company, backed by Stripe and Paradigm, and has announced early partners including Anthropic, Coupang, Deutsche Bank, DoorDash, Lead Bank, Mercury, Nubank, OpenAI, Revolut, Shopify, Standard Chartered, and Visa.

To ensure Tempo serves a broad array of needs, we're excited to be working with an incredible group of initial design partners, including:

Anthropic, Coupang, Deutsche Bank, DoorDash, Lead Bank, Mercury, Nubank, OpenAI, Revolut, Shopify, Standard Chartered, Visa, and more

— Matt Huang (@matthuang) September 4, 2025

At the time of writing, Tempo has 15 developers and is led by Paradigm founder Matt Huang . Tempo is seeking new partners and development members for future development.

Following the announcement of Tempo's development, social news site Hacker News has received comments such as, 'Stripe could make a lot of money if transactions using Stripe shift from going through banks to going through Tempo,' and, 'Cryptocurrencies used to be seen as something speculative, but now many companies are using stablecoins. This shows that companies recognize stablecoins as superior to traditional currencies.'

Also, bearing in mind that when some games were taken off the market on Steam and itch.io, it was reported that this was due to 'pressure from payment providers,' one commenter wrote, 'If Stripe uses stablecoins, it will no longer be subject to restrictions from higher-ranking payment providers. This could make it easier for Stripe to enter the game platform market as a payment provider.'

Mastercard claims it 'did not request any restrictions' on games on Steam or itch.io, but claims Valve pressured it through payment processors - GIGAZINE