Developed by Stripe and Paradigm, Tempo aims to offer fast, low-cost stablecoin payments.
Tempo, a payments-focused blockchain developed by Stripe and Paradigm, launched its public testnet on Tuesday, Dec. 9, allowing developers to begin building on the blockchain.
The network is designed for fast payments, low fees, and support for stablecoins, which now have a market capitalization of $308 billion, up from $180 billion in November 2024, according to DeFiLlama.
The testnet includes dedicated payment lanes that reserve space for transactions and keep fees low, at about one-tenth of a cent per payment. Meanwhile, blocks are finalized roughly every 0.5 seconds – and “transactions in finalized blocks are guaranteed to be included in the chain,” according to the official announcement.
The network currently runs with four validators and plans to expand as more participants join. The testnet software is open source under the Apache license, allowing anyone to run a node or sync the chain. Currently, the validators are operated by Tempo, but plans include bringing in partners before moving to a fully permissionless network.
The network also has a native decentralized exchange (DEX) optimized for stablecoins and tokenized deposits. The team said it will continue adding features to improve developer tools and stress-test the system as it prepares for a mainnet launch in 2026.
The testnet comes shortly after Tempo raised $500 million in a Series A funding round led by Thrive Capital and Greenoaks in October. The round valued the company at $5 billion and included participation from Sequoia, Ribbit Capital, and SV Angel. Stripe and Paradigm did not contribute capital to the round, The Defiant previously reported.
Most recently, Swedish financial services company Klarna launched its first stablecoin, KlarnaUSD, on Tempo, becoming the first bank to issue a token on the blockchain. The stablecoin aims to enable faster and cheaper cross-border payments for Klarna’s 114 million customers.
Some analysts note that Tempo enters an already crowded payments blockchain space. Existing networks, including Ethereum L2s, Tron, Solana, and BNB Chain, already support fast and low-cost stablecoin transfers. As a result, Tempo could face challenges attracting users and securing liquidity.
“Debate has been focused around whether Tempo is a dagger for Ethereum (why not build an L2?) or a disruptor to Solana, Tron, or any high-throughput chain,” The Defiant founder Cami Russo wrote in September. “But let’s call it what it really is: Tempo isn’t a threat to Ethereum or Solana or Tron, it may just be a threat to itself.”
