Stripe and Paradigm Build Speedy Stablecoin Highway, Bypassing Banks

Stripe’s CEO, Patrick Collison, has outlined the company’s strategic pivot toward stablecoins by announcing a new blockchain venture, Tempo, co-founded with Paradigm, a prominent crypto investment firm. Tempo is designed to facilitate high-volume, stablecoin-based transactions, a move that aligns with Stripe’s prior acquisition of a stablecoin company, Bridge, and reflects broader industry trends toward digital assets. The blockchain will focus on use cases such as global payments, remittances, microtransactions, and agentic payments, leveraging the stability of cryptocurrencies pegged to assets like the U.S. dollar [1].

A key feature of Tempo is its collaboration with an array of high-profile partners, including Anthropic, OpenAI, Deutsche Bank, Visa, and Shopify. These companies will contribute to Tempo’s design, ensuring it meets the demands of real-world financial applications. The blockchain is expected to process tens of thousands of transactions per second with sub-second finality, significantly outperforming existing blockchains in payment speed and efficiency [6]. This collaboration underscores the growing interest in stablecoins from both traditional financial institutions and tech companies, with the latter seeing potential for disruption in cross-border and digital payment systems [5].

Tempo is being developed with principles of decentralization and neutrality, as emphasized by Paradigm’s Matt Huang, who will lead the project. Unlike many blockchains that rely on native tokens for gas fees, Tempo will accept stablecoins for transaction costs, a design choice intended to enhance accessibility and reduce complexity for users. The project is still in its early stages, with a launch timeline yet to be finalized, but it already has a team of 15 employees, including Huang and Alana Palmedo from Paradigm [5].

The broader stablecoin landscape is evolving amid a regulatory shift in the U.S. The recently passed Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act has created a clearer legal framework for stablecoin issuers, requiring them to fully back their tokens with cash or short-term Treasury bonds and prohibiting them from offering interest on stablecoins. However, the law does not prevent crypto exchanges from providing rewards on stablecoin holdings, creating a regulatory gap that has drawn scrutiny from banking industry groups [3]. This loophole has led to ongoing debates about the potential impact of stablecoins on traditional banking systems, with concerns that they could siphon deposits away from banks and disrupt the existing financial infrastructure.

Despite these challenges, stablecoins are gaining traction globally. Their low-cost, 24/7 availability makes them especially valuable in economies with high inflation, where dollar-pegged stablecoins serve as a financial lifeline. As adoption grows, researchers and policymakers are increasingly scrutinizing the macroeconomic and geopolitical implications of stablecoins. While they offer benefits such as faster cross-border payments, risks such as dollarization, exchange rate volatility, and financial stability concerns have emerged [4]. Experts caution that stablecoins may perform well in stable economic conditions but could falter under stress, highlighting the need for robust regulatory safeguards.

As Tempo prepares to enter the market, the project faces a competitive landscape, with other blockchain initiatives such as Circle’s Arc and Tether’s Plasma also vying for dominance in the stablecoin space. Stripe’s entry into this arena is seen as a significant development, particularly given its global payment infrastructure and customer base. The company’s ability to integrate stablecoin processing into its ecosystem could accelerate the adoption of digital currencies for mainstream financial transactions. However, success will depend on navigating regulatory scrutiny, ensuring stablecoin stability, and demonstrating tangible benefits over existing payment systems [6].

Source:

[1] Stripe enlists a who's who, including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Paradigm to build a new blockchain (https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/04/stripe-enlists-a-whos-who-including-anthropic-openai-and-paradigm-to-build-a-new-blockchain/)

[2] The Loophole Turning Stablecoins Into a Trillion-Dollar Fight (https://www.wired.com/story/genius-act-loophole-stablecoins-banks/)

[3] How Stablecoins and Other Financial Innovations May Reshape the Global Economy (https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2025/09/04/how-stablecoins-and-other-financial-innovations-may-reshape-the-global-economy)

[4] Stripe and Paradigm announce new payments-focused blockchain (https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/09/04/stripe-paradigm-tempo-blockchain-stablecoins-matt-huang-payments/)

[5] Stablecoin News: Stripe, Paradigm Unveils Payments Blockchain (https://www.coindesk.com/business/2025/09/04/stripe-paradigm-unveil-tempo-as-blockchain-race-for-high-speed-stablecoin-payments-heats-up)