Stripe-Backed Tempo Network Launches With Focus on AI Agent Payments
Tempo, the layer-1 blockchain backed by payments giant Stripe, launched its mainnet with a clear focus on AI agent payments.
By Logan HitchcockEdited by Andrew HaywardMar 18, 2026Mar 18, 20263 min read
In brief
- Tempo, incubated by crypto VC Paradigm and private payments firm Stripe, launched its mainnet on Wednesday.
- The network is purpose-built for payments, but also launched a new open standard focused on transactions for AI agents.
- The standard, Machine Payments Protocol, has already been bolstered by Visa and others.
Tempo, the payments-focused layer-1 blockchain from Stripe and Paradigm, launched its mainnet on Wednesday, providing key infrastructure for the agentic economy in the process.
Alongside the network’s launch, Tempo unveiled a new open standard for agentic payments—the Machine Payments Protocol (MPP). The protocol, co-authored by Stripe and the Tempo team, circumvents the “limitations of existing payment rails,” allowing agents to transact seamlessly.
“MPP provides a standard way for agents and services to coordinate payments programmatically,” the network wrote. “Instead of each service inventing its own billing flow, MPP defines a simple protocol for requesting, authorizing, and settling payments between machines.”
The open standard has already been enhanced by a pair of the network’s early launch partners, including global payments giant Visa, which extended MPP to support card-based payments, and Lightspark, which did so for Bitcoin payments on the Lightning Network. Stripe too added on functionality, creating support for “cards, wallets, and other payment methods.”
A few things I like about MPP (machine payments protocol)
Payment-method agnostic (supports stablecoins on Tempo, Stripe, cards, Bitcoin lightning, etc)
Open and extensible (without our permission)
Streaming payments (via state channels)
Minimal and efficient https://t.co/ixTUYtJOqW
— Matt Huang (@matthuang) March 18, 2026
“MPP lets an agent pay for services autonomously: An agent can request a resource from a service, and the service responds with a payment request,” the announcement reads. “The agent then authorizes payment from its wallet, the transaction settles instantly, and the service delivers the requested resource to the agent.”
According to the network, the functionality is possible thanks to its introduction of “sessions,” which allows for a stream of payments to be made programmatically based on existing, defined limits. The network has already released a directory of compatible services with which agents can interact with and pay for, including those from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.
In addition to its agentic enhancements, Tempo says it “architected the infrastructure” to combat traditional, arcane solutions related to global payments, cross-border remittances, and more.
The network’s focus on the agentic economy amplifies a crescendoing trend among blockchain companies. In September, the Ethereum Foundation created its own artificial intelligence team, signaling the importance of the technology and its potential interplay with blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
The foundation’s initial focus was on ERC-8004, an Ethereum Improvement Proposal that similarly enables agents to transact seamlessly across the Ethereum blockchain. It also backed an open-source protocol from Google that tackles the same issue. Crypto exchange Coinbase has also been focused on enabling agentic payments, launching a wallet with built-in guardrails in February.
