Stripe-backed Tempo Testnet Launches to Enable High-Volume Financial Transactions with Low Fees
The public testnet of Tempo, a payments-focused blockchain backed by Stripe, has gone live, enabling real-world payments experimentation on-chain. Tempo is designed to handle high-volume financial transactions featuring low fees, instant finality, and native stablecoins. Network fees are approximately 0.1 cents per transaction, payable in USD-denominated stablecoins, and the protocol does not require a volatile gas token.
The partner roster for Tempo has expanded to include Klarna, Kalshi, Mastercard, and UBS, joining earlier partners such as Deutsche Bank, Visa, Shopify, OpenAI, and Nubank.
In related network updates, ZKsync Lite, which debuted in 2020, will be deprecated in early 2026 as Matter Labs shifts focus to ZKsync Era. A migration plan will be published next year, though withdrawals to the Ethereum mainnet will remain available.
Additional blockchain and crypto developments include the Blockstream Green app now supporting Lightning-Liquid atomic swaps, allowing users to pay Lightning invoices from LBTC balances via hash-lock-based self-custodial swaps. Axelar unveiled AgentFlux, an open-source local AI agent framework that keeps private keys off the cloud and improves accuracy by about 46% in benchmarks.
Superstate launched the Direct Issuance Program for SEC-registered issuers to issue tokenized equity on Ethereum, with real-time shareholder records maintained through Superstate’s transfer-agent infrastructure. The first issuers are expected next year.
BitMine Immersion Technologies disclosed purchasing 138,452 ETH last week, increasing its holdings to 3.86 million ETH (approximately $435 million), with total assets around $13.2 billion and holding about 3.2% of circulating ETH. Its cash on hand is about $1 billion.
From a regulatory perspective, Senator Cynthia Lummis indicated the White House resisted including ethics language in crypto market-structure talks, but she aims to reveal a working draft by the end of the week. Meanwhile, the American Federation of Teachers has warned that the Responsible Financial Innovation Act could threaten pensions and raise risks of fraud.
