Stripe-Backed Tempo Launches AI Payments Protocol As Race For Agentic Commerce Heats Up
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
Something big is quietly emerging at the intersection of AI and payments.
Stripe-backed start-up Tempo has launched a new Machine Payments Protocol, designed to let AI agents send and receive money across both fiat and crypto rails.
And if you zoom out, this is not just another crypto story. It’s about who will own payments in an agent-driven internet. The protocol is open-source and built to work across multiple blockchains and payment rails, while remaining compatible with Stripe’s existing infrastructure.
At the same time, Tempo also officially launched its own blockchain, purpose-built for high-speed payments and stablecoins.
“Agentic payments is very early,” said Matt Huang, co-founder of Tempo. “We’re still figuring out the best way to structure these.” Check out the video below for a better understanding: 👇
But this isn’t happening in isolation 👇
Coinbase, Visa, and even Google are all exploring their own frameworks for AI-driven payments, from stablecoin rails to card-based agent transactions.
The vision is clear. AI agents autonomously paying for data, services, and goods across the internet. And the real question now is:
Who will control the infrastructure behind it?
How about checking out all of today's industry news? Scroll down and take a look. I'll be back tomorrow with all the latest news.
Cheers,
INSIGHTS
📰 Getnet x Restaurants whitepaper. Getnet explores how payments can become a strategic driver of restaurant performance. Its research and whitepaper show how payments can go beyond transactions to improve operations, cash flow visibility, and customer experience, helping restaurants drive efficiency and growth. Read the complete whitepaper here
FINTECH NEWS
🌍 Mastercard launches the third edition of "Mastercard For Fintechs", reinforcing its commitment to Europe’s fintech ecosystem. The initiative aims to guide high‑potential fintechs along a structured growth path, providing access to Mastercard’s expertise, strategic connections, and operational resources to strengthen their market positioning and scalability.
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇬🇧 Ecommpay takes home two wins at the FStech Awards 2026. Ecommpay won Anti-fraud Solution of the Year and Financial Inclusion Award at the FStech Awards 2026, recognizing its innovation in secure and accessible e-commerce payments. The awards highlight the company’s commitment to improving payment security and expanding inclusive financial solutions for merchants.
🌍 J.P. Morgan Payments rolls out virtual B2B card in Europe in collaboration with Mastercard. European corporates can now access J.P. Morgan Payments’ expertise through its virtual card offerings to optimize their working capital by automating payment creation and reconciliation.
🇮🇩 Indonesia enables QR code payments for Japanese tourists. Bank Indonesia said the QR cross-border link with Japan began implementation in August 2025, allowing shoppers in both countries to pay by scanning retail QR codes instead of using cash.
🇳🇱 zerohash expands European headquarters in Amsterdam to support EU growth. The Amsterdam office now serves as zerohash’s central base for European operations following the company’s licensing under the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCAR), which enables passporting across EU and EEA markets.
🇫🇷 Klarna reaches 7 million consumers in France, now used by 1 in 7 adults. The growth is driven by strong adoption of its app, flexible payments, and broader financial features, alongside partnerships with over 48,000 merchants. Read more
🇺🇸 Stripe-backed crypto startup Tempo releases AI payments protocol, launches blockchain. Dubbed the “Machine Payments Protocol,” the open-source network supports payments in both fiat and cryptocurrency. The protocol is also compatible with Stripe’s existing AI payments infrastructure.
🇺🇸 Coinbase dives into AI agent payments by developing infrastructure that enables AI agents to make autonomous payments, positioning itself for the emerging “agentic commerce” market. The initiative aims to allow AI systems to pay for services like compute, data, and APIs without human intervention.
REGTECH NEWS
🇺🇸 Sam Altman-backed World adds identity toolkit for AI bots on Coinbase's x402 protocol. Dubbed AgentKit, the tool will enable World-verified individuals to delegate their World IDs to AI agents. With AgentKit, users' autonomous agents will be able to signal to websites and platforms that they are backed by a real person while maintaining privacy, the announcement reads.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇦🇪 Wio Bank reports $338m revenue and $169m profit in FY2025 as digital growth accelerates. The performance highlights its rapid scaling and profitability as a digital bank in the UAE, with plans to expand further by launching an Islamic banking platform in 2026, pending regulatory approval.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇺🇸 Hong Kong Crypto Unicorn RedotPay churns executives in IPO drive. RedotPay is seeking to raise up to $150 million in new funding, just months after its last funding round, as it targets a valuation of more than $4 billion through a public listing in the US.
🇧🇷 Nubank launches cryptocurrency rewards feature. Nubank announces the launch of Earn Crypto. This new staking-based feature allows customers to earn rewards on their cryptocurrency holdings. Customers can easily track their earnings directly in the app with the security and transparency of Nubank.
PARTNERSHIPS
🇬🇧 Cortena integrates Yapily to automate reconciliation and cash visibility with AI and open banking. By combining Cortena’s workflow automation with Yapily’s reliable bank connectivity, finance teams can move beyond fragmented tools and manual reconciliation towards more continuous and connected finance processes.
🇫🇷 Ingenico and Visa collaborate to accelerate unified commerce solutions across industries. By using Visa's extensive experience in e-commerce, this collaboration can grow Ingenico's innovative payment options, seamless online transactions, and ability to deliver scalable omnichannel solutions designed to meet clients' diverse needs.
🇺🇸 Elliptic integrates with Tempo. Through this integration, Elliptic’s customers gain the same comprehensive monitoring and investigation capabilities on Tempo as on other blockchains. Continue reading
🇺🇸 PPRO adds Cash App Pay to the US platform. The solution targets digitally native consumers, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, helping businesses reach Cash App’s 58 million active users and tap into growing demand for flexible, app-based payments in the U.S.
🇨🇳 Neema unlocks direct payment route to 1 billion Alipay wallets. Neema said the partnership allows its clients to route cross-border payments directly to Alipay wallet accounts, expanding payment reach in China for banks and financial service providers using its platform.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇳🇱 Noru raises €560K to develop an agentic compliance platform. Noru plans to use the funding to expand its customer base and hire across engineering and marketing. Noru is developing what it describes as an “agentic compliance” approach to managing regulatory requirements.
🇺🇸 Tokenization platform Theo has launched thUSD and raised $100 m on a gold-backed yield strategy. The capital in the facility goes toward buying tokenized gold. At the same time, Theo shorts gold futures on the CME to hedge against price swings. That combination captures the spread between spot and futures prices without carrying full exposure to gold's market value.
🇺🇸 Obin AI emerges from stealth to build an agentic workforce for financial institutions. The company focuses on delivering highly accurate, auditable, and regulation-ready AI agents that enhance decision-making, risk pricing, and operational capacity while maintaining full data control for institutions.
M&A
🇺🇸 Palo Alto founder Nir Zuk sells digital bank Esh to Isracard at a $130 million valuation. Under the agreement, Isracard will acquire 100% of Esh’s shares through a combination of an immediate allocation of Isracard shares and additional shares to be held in trust and transferred to Esh’s controlling shareholders, subject to performance targets.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇬🇧 Monika Liikamaa steps down as co-CEO of Enfuce. The company has announced that Denise Johansson has taken the reins as sole CEO. Liikamaa will transition out of her role as co-CEO, although she’ll remain closely connected to Enfuce as a founder and shareholder.
🇺🇸 Circle appoints Kirk Koenigsbauer to the Board of Directors. Mr. Koenigsbauer brings more than 30 years of experience building and scaling global enterprise software and commercial cloud software services. Read more
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