Author: Zz, ChainCatcher

In August 2025, a job posting briefly published on the website of the crypto lobbying group "Blockchain Association" first revealed that fintech giant Stripe is collaborating with crypto venture capital firm Paradigm to develop a high-performance L1 (Layer 1) blockchain project named "Tempo."

According to Cryptopolitan, although the job posting was deleted shortly after it was published, the relevant information still indicates that Stripe is preparing its independent blockchain infrastructure.

Project Technology and Positioning

Based on the disclosed information, Tempo has a very clear positioning: an independent L1 blockchain designed specifically for enterprise-level payment scenarios, rather than a general-purpose smart contract platform.

Its target users are not crypto-native traders, but rather Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) or treasury management departments of large multinational companies. The job posting indicates that candidates need to have "marketing experience aimed at Fortune 500 audiences," suggesting that the target users of Tempo are the financial decision-makers of large multinational corporations. This means the project not only focuses on technical performance but also emphasizes meeting the needs for payment efficiency and cost control in enterprises. It aims to address the pain points of traditional cross-border payments. Currently, this field is still dominated by the SWIFT system—an international messaging network for transmitting payment instructions between banks. Due to reliance on multiple intermediary banks, this system has long faced issues of long processing times, high costs, and lack of transparency.

Technically, Tempo pursues "high performance." According to the job posting and industry analysis, its technical goals include increasing transaction throughput (TPS, or transactions per second) and achieving fast finality (Time to Finality, TTF) to meet the requirements for settlement speed and certainty in enterprise-level payments.

The emergence of Tempo means it will directly compete with the L1 public chain "Arc" launched by stablecoin issuer Circle. Both target the enterprise payment market, indicating that competition in the stablecoin settlement layer is shifting from the application layer to the infrastructure layer.

Strategic Choice: Why Stripe is Building L1 from Scratch Instead of Using L2

Stripe is built on a vast merchant base and deep experience. Its exploration in the crypto field has undergone a clear evolution from cautious experimentation to decisive action. After initially abandoning the idea due to Bitcoin's volatility and inefficiency, Stripe has come to realize that innovating payments requires mastering lower-level technology.

By choosing to build its own L1, Stripe aims to control the transaction settlement network, fee model, and compliance pathway.

Choosing L2 would mean establishing its business lifeline on another network. While it allows for quick deployment, it must bear multiple risks from the underlying network: unpredictability in the fee market—soaring Ethereum gas fees could lead to uncontrolled payment costs; dependency on governance and technical direction—any upgrade disputes in the underlying L1 could affect L2; performance bottlenecks—L2's performance ceiling is constrained by L1.

By building its own L1, Stripe transforms from a "tenant" to a "landlord," gaining sovereignty to define the rules.

At the same time, Tempo is the final piece of Stripe's full-stack layout. Previously, Stripe has undertaken a series of acquisitions:

• Application Layer: According to The Block, last October, Stripe acquired stablecoin infrastructure company Bridge for $1.1 billion, gaining APIs for stablecoin issuance and management.

• User Layer: In June of this year, it acquired wallet infrastructure provider Privy, which simplifies the process for users to enter the web3 world.

• Settlement Layer: Tempo completes the foundational transaction settlement network.

The intention behind this layout is for Stripe to transition from a "channel provider" to a "platform owner" with a complete track. This is crucial for serving large enterprises and financial institutions.

The Role of Paradigm as a Co-builder

In this collaboration, Paradigm is not only an investor but also a deep "co-builder." Its co-founder Matt Huang serves as a director at Stripe, responsible for guiding its crypto strategy. This close relationship ensures that Paradigm's cutting-edge ideas in underlying protocol design can be directly injected into Tempo.

The design philosophy of Tempo seems to be practicing the ideas proposed by Paradigm in the article "The L1 Dilemma" published on June 20, which states that new L1s can succeed by leveraging and challenging the "dogma" of existing L1s. The Tempo project may serve as a textbook example of this theory:

• Native Token: Tempo may not issue speculative native tokens, with transaction fees paid directly in stablecoins, thereby avoiding regulatory risks and focusing on the payment utility of the network. This is a complete subversion of the standard L1 economic model.
• Validator Network: Tempo may adopt a validator network composed of licensed entities to ensure the stability and compliance required by enterprise clients.
• EVM Compatibility: Reports suggest that Tempo will be compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to lower the barriers for developers and leverage the existing developer ecosystem.

Advantages and Challenges

According to current intelligence analysis, Tempo's biggest advantage lies in relying on Stripe's existing vast merchant network, which addresses the "cold start problem" faced by new blockchains. Stripe can smoothly guide its existing customers to the Tempo network, creating network effects.

The main challenge comes from direct competition with Circle. The technical paths of both may converge, and the key to victory will depend on market entry strategies and distribution capabilities. Circle's advantage lies in its integration of the native USDC and deep relationships in the crypto industry, while Tempo's advantage is its existing Web2 enterprise customer network providing a foundation for promotion.

In Conclusion: The Signals Sent by Web2 Giants Entering the Space

Stripe's move to build its own L1 marks a deepening integration of Web2 giants with blockchain technology. It also resembles a strategic move following the passage of the "GENIUS Act." Stripe is taking the initiative, as it is laying out a compliant stablecoin infrastructure, which may convey several signals:

First, the market's value narrative may partially shift from "pure decentralization" to "compliant asset flow." The core of Tempo is to provide a secure and efficient carrying network for stablecoins.

Second, the public chain track may experience "diversion." The future market may split into two categories: one represented by Ethereum, characterized by open and crypto-native "permissionless chains"; the other represented by Tempo, serving regulated commercial activities as "enterprise-specific chains."

Finally, investment opportunities may focus on the infrastructure of the "compliant stablecoin ecosystem." Stripe's layout indicates that with the implementation of the GENIUS Act, projects that can provide key technologies for stablecoins (such as compliant issuance, transaction monitoring, wallet security, and asset management) may become value niches.

(This article is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice.)

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