Stripe-Backed Tempo Blockchain Falls Short: $500M Raised but Under 3 TPS

Stripe’s Tempo blockchain, marketed as a high-capacity alternative to Bitcoin, is now processing fewer than three transactions per second (TPS)—below Bitcoin’s 5 TPS.

Seven months ago, Stripe introduced Tempo, claiming existing blockchains lacked the capacity to handle its institutional payment flows. At the time, Bitcoin (BTC) miners processed about 160 million transactions over the past 12 months, averaging 5.1 TPS. Tempo’s CEO, Patrick Collison, boasted in September that the new blockchain would support up to 10,000 TPS, positioning it far ahead of Bitcoin’s capabilities.

However, real-world data now reveals a stark contrast between Tempo’s theoretical capacity and its actual performance. According to Token Terminal and Dune Analytics, Tempo’s on-chain transactions currently average approximately 2.5 TPS—significantly lower than Bitcoin’s 5 TPS.

Funding and Launch Details

Tempo raised $500 million in October 2025 at a $5 billion valuation, with backing from Thrive Capital, GreenOaks, Sequoia, Ribbit, and SV Angel. The blockchain’s mainnet went live on March 18. Paradigm, alongside Stripe, played a key role in its development, with Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang serving as Tempo’s CEO.

Tempo’s Declining On-Chain Activity

Five weeks after its mainnet launch, Tempo reported 5,600 daily active users, generated $205 in fees over 24 hours, and held $3 million in total value locked (TVL).

For comparison, Ethereum generated $1.4 million in fees and held $45 billion in TVL during the same period.

Key Metrics Show Sharp Decline

• Daily new wallets: Peaked at 7,629 on March 19, 2026, dropped to 1,749 by April 21 (a 77% decrease).
• Daily contract deployments: Peaked at 3,060 on April 14, fell to 863 a week later (a 72% drop).
• Daily token transfer volume: Peaked above $9 million on March 17, now down two-thirds.
• Stablecoin DEX volume: Dropped to $56,000 in 24 hours on April 21, a 95% decline from its peak and less than 0.001% of global DEX volumes.
• Daily DEX trades: Fell from over 18,000 on March 20 to under 2,000 (a 77% decrease).
• Daily DEX volume: Peaked at $1.1 million, now down 93%.

Conclusion

Despite its ambitious goals and substantial funding, Tempo’s on-chain activity has declined sharply since its launch. Its current performance falls short of both Bitcoin and Ethereum, raising questions about its long-term viability in the competitive blockchain landscape.