Catenaa, Friday, November 14, 2025- Tempo, a stablecoin-focused blockchain backed by Stripe and venture firm Paradigm, has made its first strategic venture investment, committing $25 million to open-source blockchain infrastructure developer Commonware.
The partnership will integrate the Commonware Library into Tempo’s development, with the blockchain becoming a core contributor to the project. Commonware offers modular blockchain primitives designed as an “anti-framework,” enabling customizable networks with fewer constraints than platforms like Cosmos SDK or the OP Stack.
Paradigm CTO Georgios Konstantopoulos highlighted the team’s innovative approach to consensus algorithms, emphasizing speed, simplicity, and open infrastructure as central goals for the collaboration. Tempo aims to use the Commonware Library to advance differentiated payment mechanisms on its platform.
The investment follows Tempo’s recent $500 million fundraising round from VCs including Thrive, Greenoaks, and Sequoia.
The company also acquired the Ithaca development team, previously focused on the Layer 2 blockchain Odyssey, and added Ethereum researcher Dankrad Feist to its roster.
Commonware has previously raised $9 million in seed funding from investors such as Haun Capital and Dragonfly Ventures, with angels including prominent blockchain figures from Avalanche, Berachain, Cosmos, and Solana.
The startup has showcased its technology through Alto, a high-performance blockchain built on the Commonware Library.
The move marks Tempo’s first venture initiative, reinforcing its commitment to open-source blockchain development and strengthening its technical infrastructure for stablecoin and payments applications.
