Stripe-Backed Tempo Raises $500 Million, Hits $5 Billion Valuation

Highlights:

• Tempo raises $500 million in a Series A round, backed by top VC firms.
• Stripe-backed Tempo aims to power global stablecoin payments infrastructure.
• Ethereum Foundation researcher Dankrad Feist joins Tempo to build its core payment stack.

Tempo, the latest blockchain platform by Stripe, has raised $500 million in its Series A funding. According to the Fortune report, the round values the project at $5 billion and also has major names in venture capital. Thrive Capital and Greenoaks were co-leaders in the investment. Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, and SV Angel are also part of the other participants. However, Stripe and Paradigm, who supported the project, did not provide additional capital in this round.

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According to Fortune, blockchain startup Tempo, backed by Stripe and Paradigm, has raised $500 million in a Series A round at a valuation of approximately $5 billion. The funding was led by Thrive Capital (founded by Joshua Kushner) and Greenoaks, with participation from Sequoia…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 17, 2025

Focused on Stablecoin Payments

Tempo is not attempting to reinvent trading networks such as Solana or Ethereum. Rather, it is focused on practical financial projects and stablecoin payments. In a statement during the unveiling of Tempo in September, Stripe CEO Patrick Collison confirmed that most blockchain networks are not designed to support transactions based on stablecoins at scale. To solve this, Stripe created Tempo.

Tempo, being a layer-1 blockchain, will form the basis of transferring digital dollars across borders, with low associated costs and high speed. The initiative is anticipated to drive world usage cases, such as payment globally, in regions where modern financial systems have not been developed.

Tempo will be stablecoin agnostic, meaning any regulated dollar-linked crypto, such as USDC or USDT, can be used with it. Already, there has been an early partnership with OpenAI, Visa, Shopify, Deutsche Bank, and Anthropic, indicating a wide-ranging push on both the tech and finance industries. Although there is an increasing interest, the blockchain is yet to be officially launched, with no token being confirmed.

Ethereum Talent Boosts Stripe’s Ambitions

Ethereum Researcher with Ethereum Foundation, Dankrad Feist, has joined the Tempo staff, a move that made headlines. Feist was among the leading researchers in terms of the Ethereum roadmap. His move to Tempo has raised controversy within the crypto space.

Feist said that his goal is to enable crypto to reach the actual lives of people and believes Tempo is one of the ways to do so. He will be the head of core protocol engineering and help to scale the payment layer. He will also continue to hold certain advisory positions at Ethereum.

I am excited to announce that I will be joining Tempo. This last year has been a turning point for crypto, where we have finally seen the outlines of our vision being materialized. While payments used to be front and center in the early days of crypto, I see a special opportunity…

— Dankrad Feist (@dankrad) October 17, 2025

The decision to focus on real-world adoption was also praised by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Critics, though, questioned the issue of centralization and the shift away from the open-source ethos.

Stripe Doubles Down on Crypto Infrastructure

Tempo is not the only investment that Stripe has made in crypto. Last year, the company purchased Bridge, a stablecoin company, for $1.1 billion. It further announced the acquisition of Privy, a startup that makes user identity and wallet management in crypto simple.

Tempo raises $500 million when demand for stablecoin infrastructure is soaring. The issuer of USDC, Circle, plans to release its own blockchain, Arc, later this year. The shift will enhance competition between companies developing stablecoin payment systems.

The pace of adoption of stablecoins has increased significantly following the signing of the GENIUS Act by President Donald Trump. The law establishes a clear legal framework for digital dollar issuers. Moreover, the European Union is also encouraging euro-backed stablecoins as a way of reducing its dependence on the dollar-dominated tokens.

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