Tempo, the payments-focused blockchain valued at roughly $5 billion following its recent Series A raise, launched its public testnet on December 9. The protocol is designed to provide instant settlement, low fees, and a stablecoin-native experience, targeting capabilities it says most general-purpose blockchains lack for financial applications.
The firm completed a $500 million Series A in October backed by Thrive Capital, Greenoaks, Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, and SV Angel. Stripe and Paradigm, which incubated the project, did not participate in the round. Tempo is building an Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 optimized for high-throughput payments and is working with companies including OpenAI, Shopify, Visa, Anthropic, and Deutsche Bank.
Klarna recently issued KlarnaUSD, a USD-backed stablecoin on Tempo, with plans for a mainnet launch in 2026. Tempo positions itself as purpose-built for real-world payments, drawing on Stripe’s global payments expertise and Paradigm’s focus on crypto infrastructure.
