Venture capital firm Paradigm recently posted a job advert for a marketing person to join the Tempo stealth startup. The ad described Tempo as a “high performance payment blockchain”, which is a joint venture between Paradigm and Stripe, as first reported by Fortune.
Notably, one of the key skills sought is experience targeting Fortune 500 audiences. And the ability to translate crypto concepts for a mainstream audience.
Last year Stripe famously spent $1.1 billion acquiring stablecoin infrastructure startup Bridge. More recently Stripe launched stablecoin accounts targeting offshore entrepreneurs, including in jurisdictions that Stripe’s core business doesn’t currently serve. Bridge also unveiled its own stablecoin USDB and provides the technology for other white labelled stablecoins.
Stripe’s blockchain ambitions reflect a broader trend among payment companies moving into dedicated blockchain infrastructure. Today stablecoin issuer Circle unveiled its chain Arc. Tether was the first to move in July, as the backer of the Stable chain which announced that gas will be paid in USDT. While Circle and Stripe may have grand strategies, in Tether’s case the goal is more prosaic: Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino claims that 40% of blockchain gas fees are for Tether linked transactions. By owning a major stake in the blockchain infrastructure, Tether captures a portion of those transaction fees directly.
