Tempo’s public testnet has gone live, marking a new phase for Stripe and Paradigm’s attempt to build a blockchain designed purely for payments rather than speculation.
The launch allows any company to begin building stablecoin-based applications directly on the network, expanding a project that has quietly drawn support from global banks, fintech firms, and major technology companies.
Tempo was first revealed in September as an Ethereum-compatible network built with developers from firms including OpenAI, Shopify, Visa, Deutsche Bank, and Nubank.
The idea is simple: payments should not compete for blockspace with trading activity, memecoin launches, or other congested blockchain traffic.
Matt Huang, Paradigm co-founder and Tempo project lead, said many developers still find crypto infrastructure difficult to approach.
“We want to close that developer experience gap for people thinking about real-world use cases for stablecoins.”
The network carves out dedicated lanes for payments so fees stay predictable, at one-tenth of a cent per transfer, even when trading volume spikes elsewhere.
Stripe’s president of technology and business, William Gaybrick, outlined the problem earlier this year, saying that past memecoin frenzies caused processors using stablecoin rails to lose the ability to complete payroll on time.
“There are design choices around how payments are treated versus how trading volume is treated, so that when you have a memecoin launch, those volumes are protected.”
Tuesday’s rollout brought more institutions into the fold, including UBS, Cross River Bank, Mastercard, Klarna, and prediction-market operator Kalshi.
They join earlier design partners such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Standard Chartered, Visa, DoorDash, Shopify, Revolut, Coupang, Deutsche Bank, Nubank, Brex, Ramp, Payoneer, Persona, Figure, and Washington-based Coastal Bank.
Coastal Bank president Brian Hamilton said the project offers a chance to shape new financial infrastructure.
“It’s not just about improving speed or efficiency—it’s about unlocking new capabilities for the broader ecosystem of fintech and embedded finance partners.”
Companies testing Tempo span global remittances, tokenised deposits, AI-driven billing, and embedded financial services, all looking for a more predictable settlement layer than general-purpose blockchains.
Tempo allows fees to be paid in any US dollar-denominated stablecoin, including USDT and USDC, removing the need for firms to manage a volatile native token.
This fits a growing shift toward usage-based billing, especially among AI platforms that want to charge customers in real time for computing power consumed.
Microtransactions become viable under Tempo’s low-fee structure, bypassing traditional card fees of 1–3% plus fixed costs.
In February, stablecoins recorded nearly $4 trillion in total volume, but only $6 billion represented genuine payment flows.
The global stablecoin market cap currently stands at $312.6 billion, with $106.8 billion in daily trading volume.
Analysts estimate supply could reach $3.7 trillion by 2030 if adoption continues, though slower regulation or persistent security issues could keep it closer to $500 billion.
Tempo’s testnet already supports live workloads, with features such as predictable settlement lanes, microtransactions, instant fee calculation, and browser-based stablecoin creation.
Early participants have been testing remittances, tokenised deposits, and distributed settlement flows.
Huang said the team remains focused on practical applications rather than speculative activity.
He wrote on X,
“It’s been a pleasure working with great design partners to shape the chain: from teams moving billions across borders, to banks testing tokenized deposits, to AI companies exploring agentic flows.”
The testnet currently runs on four validators operated by the core team, with plans to introduce independent validators from global partners as it moves toward mainnet.
The full rollout timeline has not yet been set.
The launch comes during a broader wave of institutional movement into regulated digital assets, accelerated by the GENIUS Act signed by President Donald Trump in July 2025.
Tempo’s arrival follows Circle’s own payments-focused blockchain, Arc, which opened its testnet in October with early participation from Visa, BlackRock, and Goldman Sachs.
Tempo itself reportedly raised $500 million in October at a $5 billion valuation, and added prominent Ethereum Foundation researcher Dankrad Feist to help architect the chain.
With Tuesday’s release, any company can now begin integrating stablecoin payment flows directly through Tempo’s public testnet, signalling the start of an open trial designed to push digital dollars into mainstream financial infrastructure.
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