DoorDash, the food delivery platform that processed nearly $75 billion in merchant sales last year, is partnering with Tempo, the blockchain built by payments giant Stripe and crypto investment firm Paradigm, to roll out stablecoin-powered payouts. The move represents one of the most significant deployments of crypto payment rails by a consumer-facing tech company to date, and it signals just how serious mainstream firms are getting about on-chain money movement.

The announcement, made Tuesday in a Tempo blog post, puts DoorDash alongside Stripe itself, Coastal Community Bank, and Latin American fintech ARQ as companies now running or preparing to run parts of their payment operations on stablecoin rails through Tempo. DoorDash is focusing initially on cross-border flows, where settlement speed and cost are the biggest pain points. Exact timing for when those payouts go live has not been disclosed.

 

What Is Tempo?

Tempo is not just another blockchain project. It launched publicly last month after a private testnet phase, backed by a $500 million funding round that valued the company at $5 billion. Stripe and Paradigm are the founding investors, with Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang leading a dedicated team. The chain is engineered specifically for payment workloads, targeting over 100,000 transactions per second with sub-second finality. Fees can be paid in any stablecoin rather than a native token, something that sets it apart from general-purpose chains like Ethereum or even high-throughput alternatives like Solana, which Stripe CEO Patrick Collison has said do not meet the company's throughput or payment-specific requirements.

 

The chain is EVM-compatible and built on Reth, an Ethereum execution client developed by Paradigm. It includes dedicated payment lanes, opt-in transaction privacy, support for memos and access lists, and an enshrined automated market maker to ensure stablecoin neutrality. No single issuer gets a home-field advantage on Tempo's rails, which is important for institutions wary of becoming dependent on any one stablecoin ecosystem.

 

Why DoorDash, and Why Now

DoorDash operates in more than 40 countries, and getting money across borders has historically meant dealing with fragmented regional banking rails, slow settlement windows, and fees that eat into merchant margins. Stablecoins offer a straightforward fix for that, at least in theory. "There's real promise with stablecoins transforming financial infrastructure," DoorDash co-founder Andy Fang said in a statement tied to the announcement.

 

Beyond merchant payouts, Tempo is also working with DoorDash on a separate option that would let delivery workers get paid directly in stablecoins. That would be a notable shift for the gig economy, where payroll timing and cross-border income access are persistent problems for workers in markets outside the U.S.

 

Stripe's Bigger Blockchain Play

This deal sits inside a much larger strategic bet Stripe has been building for a while. The company acquired stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge for $1.1 billion in 2024, then bought crypto wallet provider Privy. It launched stablecoin financial accounts in 101 countries in May 2025, and has since introduced stablecoin subscription payments for U.S. businesses through USDC on Base and Polygon. Stripe processes close to $2 trillion in payment flows annually, and its head of Connect and money management, Neetika Bansal, has framed Tempo as the vehicle for making global payments "fast, cheap and borderless."

 

Tempo went live on mainnet last month with infrastructure partners including Mastercard, UBS, Klarna, and Visa already on board. Klarna even launched a bank-issued stablecoin on Tempo to enable cheaper cross-border settlement. The chain is also part of Stripe's pitch for agentic payments, the idea that AI systems will eventually need to transact autonomously at high volume, and that existing financial rails simply aren't built for that.

 

Stablecoin Interest Is Exploding

Stablecoins are now a $300 billion asset class, and the broader interest from corporate America is unmistakable. Meta, Google, and X are all reportedly exploring stablecoin integrations of their own. Circle, the issuer of USDC, recently completed a successful initial public offering, giving the sector another credibility boost. Tempo is also launching a Stablecoin Advisory service to offer hands-on support for firms looking to move payment flows on-chain, with what the company describes as "forward-deployed" engineers working directly inside client organizations.

 

Visa, OnePay, Felix, Fifth Third Bank, and Howard Hughes Holdings are also among the companies bringing payment operations onto Tempo's rails, according to information shared with Fortune. The competition is building too. Fireblocks launched a network in late 2025 positioning itself as a stablecoin SWIFT for institutions, and Google is developing its own Universal Ledger for financial assets.

 

For DoorDash, the bet is fairly straightforward: better rails mean cheaper, faster payouts for merchants and workers, which is a competitive advantage in a market where delivery platforms are fighting hard for both. No one can say if this stablecoin deal moves the needle, but the economics are pretty hard to argue with.

 

South Korean fintech and payment company Toss is reportedly considering the launch of its own blockchain network and a native cryptocurrency token for its payment and financial services.

 

While preparations had already begun, Blockmedia, one of South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency media outlets, reports that the firm has not yet decided whether to launch a Layer 1 or Layer 2 blockchain, as decision-making has been paused amid delays in some compliance discussions.

 

By launching its own blockchain, Toss would be building a solid infrastructure for its super app, enabling the integration of several blockchain features, including on-chain finance, scalability, and smart contracts, into its existing payment system.

 

Toss: A Crypto-Friendly Fintech Platform

Despite operating mostly in the traditional finance space and amassing over 30 million registered users, about 60 percent of the population of South Korea, Toss has long been taking several pro-blockchain and crypto-friendly steps.

 

In June 2025, Toss, through its Stablecoin Task Force led by Chief Business Officer Kyuha Kim, filed 24 stablecoin applications with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the country’s trademark and patent authority, securing stablecoin names including TOSSKRW. During the same period, Toss Bank, its banking subsidiary, submitted 48 additional stablecoin-related applications.

 

These efforts were part of Toss’s broader strategy to establish a position in South Korea’s crypto sector as a potential issuer of Korean won-backed stablecoins. The company also began recruiting blockchain engineers to advance this initiative.

 

In March 2026, at the Seoul Blockchain Meetup Conference in Seoul, Toss unveiled its Money 3.0 vision, which it describes as the next era of money. 

 

According to Toss, this vision leverages blockchain and stablecoins to build a digital money system that combines programmability, borderless transactions, and composability, extending beyond the physical cash era of Money 1.0 and the electronic fiat money era of Money 2.0.

 

At the same event, Toss publicly announced plans to issue and distribute its Korean won-backed stablecoin.

 

Despite recent regulatory pressure on non-compliant cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, several fintech companies and banking institutions in the country, including Toss, have continued to adopt and integrate blockchain technology into their systems.

 

KakaoPay, a major domestic fintech company, recently joined the Coinbase-led x402 Foundation, a move that suggests potential future integration of blockchain technology into its payment systems. In addition, around eight domestic banks formed a consortium last year to jointly explore issuing Korean won-backed stablecoins.

 

 

Ripple is expanding Ripple Payments, its stablecoin payment platform, for banks, fintechs, enterprises, and financial institutions worldwide. 

 

The goal? To make cross-border transactions faster. By expanding Ripple Payments globally, Ripple aims to make it easier for businesses to move money worldwide in record time. 

 

 

To understand what Ripple is trying to achieve, let's briefly examine how cross-border payments work in traditional banking systems:

 

Before money can be transferred across borders, several banks, often known as a correspondent banking network, are usually involved. These banks work together to ensure users worldwide can send and receive money.

 

While this method of money transfer isn't inherently bad, it is complex and often marred by delays. Thus, a user may often need to wait days to receive funds transferred from users on the other side of the world.

 

This delay and complexity in cross-border transfers are what Ripple aims to remove through its global stablecoin payment platform, Ripple Payments.

 

Ripple Payments is a complete, end-to-end platform that enables banks, fintechs, and companies to move money faster and more cheaply across borders.

 

By using Ripple Payments, fintechs can:

1. Collect funds globally in fiat or stablecoins, automatically convert inflows into their preferred currency, and settle into a unified account.

2. Hold balances using named virtual accounts and wallets that support both end users and internal treasury operations.

3. Exchange funds instantly 24/7/365, including direct access to RLUSD.

4. Pay out in minutes instead of days, including real-time mass disbursements to suppliers, creators, and employees in their preferred currency (fiat or stablecoin).

 

According to the team, Ripple reduces settlement times from days to minutes and eliminates manual processes tied to legacy rails like SWIFT.

 

Ripple Payments is now live in more than 60 markets and has processed over $100 billion in transaction volume to date. The platform has also partnered with over 20 banks, including Switzerland's AMINA Bank, Brazil's Banco Genial, and Malaysia's ECIB.

 

 

The Current State of the Stablecoin Market

The stablecoin market has grown significantly in the last few years. According to Coingecko, the stablecoin currently has a market cap of over $313 billion, with USD Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) having the most market share.

 

To position itself as a payment and stablecoin infrastructure provider, Ripple launched Ripple USD (RLUSD) in 2024, a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the US Dollar and designed for institutional and enterprise use.

 

To facilitate its stablecoin goals, Ripple acquired Rail for $200 million and Palisade for an undisclosed amount. According to the team, these acquisitions were strategic and pivotal to expanding its stablecoin payment platform.

 

 

Bermuda is taking a swing that very few governments have even talked about seriously, let alone tried.

 

The island nation says it wants to move large parts of its economy directly onto public blockchains, using stablecoins and crypto infrastructure instead of the traditional banking and payments stack. To do that, it has teamed up with Coinbase and Circle, two of the most established companies in the industry.

 

This is not a pilot tucked away in a sandbox. The ambition here is much bigger. Bermuda wants onchain rails to support real economic activity, the kind that happens every day, not just crypto trading.

 

Whether that actually works is still an open question. But the fact that a government is trying at all is notable.

 

How Bermuda Got Here

Bermuda did not wake up one morning and decide to put its economy onchain.

 

For years, the island has been quietly building a reputation as a place where crypto companies can operate without constantly guessing how regulators will react. The rules are clear. Licensing exists. Enforcement is predictable. That alone puts Bermuda ahead of many much larger jurisdictions.

 

Coinbase and Circle both set up regulated operations there long before this announcement. In some ways, this new initiative looks like the next logical step rather than a sudden leap.

 

Officials describe it as modernization. Fewer intermediaries, faster settlement, and lower costs. In plain terms, they think the financial plumbing can work better.

 

What the Crypto Companies Actually Do

Coinbase is mostly about infrastructure here.

 

Think wallets, compliance tooling, and the systems that make it possible for people and businesses to interact with blockchains without needing to understand every technical detail. Coinbase has spent years building that stack, and Bermuda wants to plug into it.

 

Circle’s role is more straightforward. It issues USDC, the dollar backed stablecoin that would act as the money moving through this onchain system. The appeal is obvious. Prices do not swing wildly, and payments can move quickly without touching legacy rails.

 

Together, they provide something that looks less like an experiment and more like a functioning financial system, at least on paper.

 

Regulation Is the Quiet Enabler

None of this happens without regulation that is already in place.

 

Bermuda’s digital asset laws spell out what exchanges, issuers, and custodians can and cannot do. That sounds boring, but it matters. It gives companies confidence to build, and it gives the government leverage to enforce standards.

 

In a global crypto landscape still shaped by uncertainty and court cases, that kind of clarity stands out.

 

For Bermuda, regulation is not about keeping crypto at arm’s length. It is about making it usable at scale.

 

This Is Not The First Test

There have already been small but meaningful trials.

 

Last year, local residents were given stablecoins to spend at participating merchants during a digital finance event. People bought meals, paid for services, and moved money using wallets and QR codes. It was not perfect, but it worked well enough to get attention.

 

Merchants got paid quickly. Users did not have to think too hard about what was happening under the hood. For policymakers, that mattered more than transaction volume.

 

Those early trials helped turn a concept into something more concrete.

 

Bermuda’s approach is anchored in what The Hon. E. David Burt, JP, MP, Premier of Bermuda describes as a collaborative model between government, regulator, and industry designed to enable responsible innovation at scale.

 

“Bermuda has always believed that responsible innovation is best achieved through partnership between government, regulators, and industry, with the support of Circle and Coinbase, two of the world’s most trusted digital finance companies, we are accelerating our vision to enable digital finance at the national level. This initiative is about creating opportunity, lowering costs, and ensuring Bermudians benefit from the future of finance.”

 

Payments Are Really the Point

Strip away the buzzwords and this comes down to payments.

 

Small economies often pay more to move money, especially across borders. Stablecoins promise faster settlement and fewer fees, which can make a real difference for local businesses and government operations alike.

 

If onchain payments become normal in Bermuda, that alone would be a meaningful shift. Everything else, tokenization, smart contracts, broader digital asset services, comes later.

 

Why People Outside Bermuda Care

Bermuda is small, and that is part of the advantage.

 

Rolling out new systems is easier when you are not dealing with hundreds of millions of people and layers of bureaucracy. But success on a small island still sends a signal.

 

If this works, it shows that stablecoins can operate inside a regulated national framework without blowing things up. It also raises uncomfortable questions for countries that are still debating whether crypto belongs anywhere near their financial systems.

 

Other governments are paying attention, even if they are not saying much yet.

 

The Hard Parts Are Still Ahead

Adoption is not automatic.

 

People need to trust the tools they are using. Businesses need to see clear benefits. Regulators need to keep up as technology and global standards change. Any one of those things can slow momentum.

 

There is also the question of what happens when onchain systems meet real economic stress, not just controlled pilots and conferences.

 

That test has not happened yet.

 

What This Really Represents

For most of crypto’s history, the industry has talked about changing finance while mostly building parallel systems that sit off to the side.

 

Bermuda is trying something different. It is asking whether blockchain infrastructure can simply become part of how an economy runs, quietly and without much fanfare.

 

It might work. It might not.

 

Either way, it pushes the conversation forward in a way few announcements do.