Tempo, a payments-focused blockchain backed by Stripe and crypto investment firm Paradigm, has launched its public testnet, a key step in its efforts to make stablecoin payments mainstream.
Tempo has also revealed a list of new additions to the network’s partner group, including buy-now-pay-later firm Klarna, prediction marketplace Kalshi, payments giant Mastercard and Swiss global bank UBS. They join a group of previous design partners such as Deutsche Bank, Visa, Shopify, OpenAI and Nubank.
Initially introduced in September, Tempo is designed to handle large financial transactions with low fees, instant finality and built-in support for stablecoins. With the testnet now live, developers and enterprise partners can begin experimenting with real-world payments on the chain.
The move fits into the recent trend of building blockchains for stablecoin payments as digital dollar adoption skyrockets globally. Stablecoins, currently a $300 billion asset class, are expected to become an integral part of cross-border payment rails with business-to-business (B2B), peer-to-peer (P2P) and card payments driving growth, said a recent report from Keyrock and Bitso.
Tempo aims to solve common pain points in blockchain-based finance, such as network congestion and unstable transaction fees. The network charges about a tenth of a cent per transaction, paid in US dollar-denominated stablecoins, eliminating the need for a volatile gas token.
The news comes on the heels of Bridge, Stripe’s stablecoin infrastructure company, helping Klarna issue its own digital dollar next year.
Read more: Why Circle and Stripe (and many others) are launching their own blockchains
