Overview

• In a Sept. 5 analysis, Christian Catalini warned that Stripe’s Tempo and Circle’s Arc could succeed commercially at the expense of crypto’s decentralization ideal.
• He said Tempo’s success would suggest Libra failed on timing rather than design and predicted corporate payment rails would likely fracture into competing regional blocs.
• Catalini also argued Tempo is structurally flawed and "doomed to fail" because systems with a single architect invite control and favoritism toward their creators.
• Recounting Libra’s path, he said regulators pushed the project to abandon non-custodial wallets in favor of a "clear perimeter" with accountable intermediaries.
• Stripe and Paradigm unveiled Tempo on Sept. 4 with claims of 100,000+ TPS, EVM compatibility, and stablecoin-denominated fees alongside partners including Visa, Deutsche Bank, Revolut, Nubank, Shopify, OpenAI, Anthropic, and DoorDash, while Circle’s Aug. 12 Arc announcement detailed USDC-paid fees, a built-in FX engine, sub-second finality, and opt-in privacy.