[Payment Giant Stripe Advances on Two Fronts: x402 Protocol Ushers in the 'AI Proxy Payment' Era, Tempo Chain Targets Global Payments] BlockBeats News, February 11 — Payment giant Stripe has been making frequent moves in the crypto and AI sectors recently, with the most significant development being the official launch of the x402 protocol. This enables developers to directly charge AI proxies using the USDC stablecoin for settlement on the Base chain. Reportedly, Stripe has integrated x402 (preview version) into its PaymentIntents API, allowing developers to implement machine payments with just a few lines of code. It is applicable to scenarios such as API calls, tool usage, web scraping, and content access. Transactions between humans and proxies are unified in the Stripe dashboard, supporting near-zero fees, instant settlement, and no chargebacks. Stripe Product Manager Jeff Weinstein stated that starting with Base + USDC, the protocol will later expand to support more protocols, chains, and currencies. At the same time, Stripe continues to strengthen its stablecoin infrastructure by incubating Tempo (in collaboration with Paradigm), a Layer 1 blockchain focused on global stablecoin payments, aiming to replace traditional systems like SWIFT. The Tempo testnet is already live, with the mainnet expected to launch by 2026. Farcaster co-founders Dan Romero and Varun Srinivasan also announced on February 9–10 that they are leading their team to join Tempo. Additionally, Tempo has completed a $500 million Series A funding round, valuing the company at $5 billion. Meanwhile, Stripe's valuation recently exceeded $140 billion in a tender offer, with its crypto/stablecoin strategy receiving strong market recognition. From supporting USDC and acquiring Bridge to the rollout of x402 and Tempo's talent acquisition, Stripe is accelerating its efforts to shape the future of AI proxy + on-chain payments.