In a significant move, DoorDash and several fintech companies are integrating stablecoins into their live payment processes through Tempo, a blockchain platform backed by Stripe, marking a notable advancement in the adoption of blockchain-based financial infrastructure. Tempo, a payments-focused blockchain developed by Stripe and Paradigm, announced that companies such as DoorDash, Stripe, Coastal Bank, and Latin American fintech ARQ are now utilizing or preparing to utilize stablecoin rails for parts of their payment operations.
DoorDash, which operates in over 40 countries and generated nearly $75 billion in sales for local merchants last year, is working with Tempo to introduce stablecoin-powered payouts for merchants, initially focusing on cross-border transactions where settlement speed and cost are crucial. According to DoorDash co-founder Andy Fang, 'stablecoins have the potential to transform financial infrastructure.' Although the exact timing of the rollout of stablecoin payments at DoorDash has not been disclosed, Stripe is using Tempo as a core layer for its money movement products, enabling businesses to send, receive, and hold stablecoins alongside traditional currencies, with the goal of making global payments 'fast, cheap, and borderless,' as stated by Neetika Bansal, Stripe's head of Connect and money management.
The development comes as stablecoins and blockchain rails are increasingly becoming integral to global money flows, with stablecoins being a $300 billion crypto asset class offering a cheaper and faster alternative to traditional banking rails for cross-border transactions. As a global payments firm processing nearly $2 trillion in annual payments, Stripe has made blockchain and stablecoins central to its ambitions, having acquired stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge for $1.1 billion in 2024 and crypto wallet provider Privy, and developed a payments-focused blockchain called Tempo in collaboration with crypto investment firm Paradigm. Tempo, which went live last month with infrastructure partners like Mastercard, UBS, Klarna, and Visa, was designed specifically for payment workloads, featuring sub-second settlement, fixed fees, and private transaction channels aimed at enterprise users. To facilitate the adoption of this technology, Tempo is also launching a Stablecoin Advisory service to provide hands-on support for firms looking to transition their payment flows to the blockchain.