Yeliz Akmaca 
Global payment giant Stripe is making a bold move into the blockchain arena. The company’s new Layer-1 blockchain project, Tempo, has reached a $5 billion valuation following a $500 million Series A funding round led by Thrive Capital and Greenoaks Capital.
This development comes less than two months after Stripe revealed its plans for a blockchain optimized for stablecoins and real-world payments. Tempo aims to become a high-performance, payment-focused network designed for large-scale financial applications.
Fintech Giant Expands Web3 Ambitions
According to Fortune, the funding round also included participation from Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, and SV Angel, while Stripe and Paradigm did not contribute additional capital in this round.
Stripe CEO Patrick Collison noted on X that existing blockchains are not fully optimized for large-scale financial transactions.
“We view Tempo as a Layer-1 blockchain designed for high-throughput, real-world financial applications,” Collison said.
Meanwhile, Paradigm’s Chief Technology Officer Georgios Konstantopoulos announced that the core engineering team behind the open-source Ithaca project will join Tempo to build and scale the blockchain’s payment infrastructure.
A Growing Battle in the Stablecoin Market
Although Stripe has not yet disclosed plans for a native Tempo token, the project’s focus on blockchain-based payments positions it as a direct competitor to Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin—a digital asset pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar and supported by Mastercard and Visa integrations.
Launched in 2018, USDC currently holds a market capitalization of $75.6 billion, making it the second-largest stablecoin after Tether’s USDT.
Circle also announced plans to launch its own Layer-1 blockchain later this year to support enterprise-grade stablecoin payments, capital markets, and foreign exchange operations. Much of this momentum stems from the GENIUS Act, passed in the U.S. in July, establishing federal rules for stablecoin issuers.
Meanwhile, the European Union is working on euro-pegged stablecoins, aiming to strengthen its position against dollar-dominated tokens.
Key Highlights of Stripe Tempo
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Layer-1 blockchain built for payments
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Scalable infrastructure for real-world financial use
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Backed by Thrive Capital and Greenoaks
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Supported by Paradigm’s engineering expertise
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Targets the Web3 and fintech payment ecosystem
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