Stripe and Paradigm Launch $5 Billion Tempo Blockchain With AI Agent Payment Protocol

Stripe and Paradigm launch Tempo blockchain with Machine Payments Protocol enabling AI agents to send and receive payments autonomously.

Stripe and Paradigm Launch $5 Billion Tempo Blockchain With AI Agent Payment Protocol Stripe and Paradigm launch Tempo blockchain with Machine Payments Protocol enabling AI agents to send and receive payments autonomously. Aaron Rafferty March 22, 2026 Key Takeaways: Tempo, a payments-focused Layer-1 blockchain incubated by Stripe and Paradigm, launched its mainnet on March 18 alongside the Machine Payments Protocol for autonomous AI agent transactions. The project raised $500 million at a $5 billion valuation from Thrive Capital and others, with launch partners including Visa, Mastercard, Anthropic, OpenAI, DoorDash, Shopify, and Revolut. Klarna became the first bank to issue a stablecoin on Tempo, and Visa extended the Machine Payments Protocol to card payments across its global network. Tempo, the payments-focused blockchain developed by Stripe and crypto investment firm Paradigm, launched its mainnet on March 18 after a three-and-a-half-month testnet phase. The network went live alongside the Machine Payments Protocol, an open standard co-authored by Stripe and Tempo that lets AI agents request, authorize, and settle payments without human intervention. The protocol supports both fiat and cryptocurrency. Visa contributed specifications so agents can pay with credit and debit cards. Lightspark extended it to Bitcoin Lightning Network payments. A payments directory with more than 100 services, from model providers to compute platforms to data APIs, was live on day one. Tempo raised $500 million in 2025 at a $5 billion valuation from Thrive Capital, Greenoaks, and others. Its partner list reads like an infrastructure summit attendance sheet: Visa, Mastercard, Anthropic, OpenAI, DoorDash, Shopify, Revolut, Nubank, Ramp, and Standard Chartered. Klarna, which serves 114 m