A major payment infrastructure player just made waves in crypto. The blockchain project Tempo, backed by payment giant Stripe alongside crypto heavyweight Paradigm, has officially rolled out its public testnet.

This isn't just another L1 launch. Tempo's entire architecture is engineered around one thing: payments. While most blockchains treat payments as an afterthought, this network puts transaction efficiency and scalability at its core from day one.

The testnet phase lets developers kick the tires on Tempo's payment-optimized features before mainnet hits. Given Stripe's massive footprint in traditional payments and Paradigm's track record spotting winning protocols, this testnet could signal where Web3 payments infrastructure is headed.

For those tracking the convergence of tradfi and crypto rails, Tempo represents a bet that specialized chains beat general-purpose ones for specific use cases. The public testnet marks the first real-world stress test of that thesis.