Farcaster founders join Tempo for stablecoin payments push

Farcaster co-founders join Tempo, a Stripe- and Paradigm-backed stablecoin startup, to lead its global payments push after Neynar acquired Farcaster.

Dan Romero and Varun Srinivasan, co-founders of Farcaster, have joined the stablecoin-focused startup Tempo after Farcaster’s acquisition by Neynar. This move signals their shift from decentralized social media to blockchain-based payments. The Merkle Manufactory team, previously involved with Farcaster, will also integrate into Tempo. They plan to return approximately $180 million to investors as part of the transition. Tempo, valued at $5 billion and backed by Stripe and Paradigm, is a Layer 1 blockchain optimized for stablecoin settlement. The company aims to modernize cross-border payments with a transparent, low-cost system, collaborating with major partners like Mastercard and UBS. Firms such as Klarna have also shown interest in issuing stablecoins on its network. Romero and Srinivasan see stablecoins as a generational opportunity to build a fast, inexpensive, and transparent global payments network.