Catalini: Tempo Is Stripe’s “Ghost of Libra”

Introduction

When Stripe unveiled Tempo, its new payment-focused blockchain, many hailed it as a breakthrough for stablecoin adoption. Yet Christian Catalini, co-founder of Libra (later Diem), offered a stark warning. He described Tempo as a “referendum on the ghost of Libra,” suggesting that without decentralization, it risks repeating the same mistakes.

Libra: Lessons from a high-profile failure

Launched in 2019 by Facebook, Libra aimed to create a decentralized global payment system. However, mounting regulatory pressure forced it to abandon non-custodial wallets and adopt a more centralized structure. This shift eroded community trust, eventually leading to the project’s shutdown. Catalini, then Libra’s chief economist, argues the failure proved that any blockchain under corporate control cannot achieve its long-term vision.

Tempo and Arc: Commercial promise vs. Decentralized ideals

Both Tempo (Stripe) and Arc (Circle) are being developed to facilitate stablecoin payments, backed by corporate resources and partnerships. They promise speed and convenience, but Catalini warns that they could re-centralize financial power in the hands of corporations. If adopted globally, these blockchains might undermine the crypto movement’s original mission of decentralization and financial freedom.

Technical design of tempo

Tempo is engineered as a Layer-1 blockchain specifically for payments, featuring:

   • Transaction throughput exceeding 100,000 TPS with sub-second finality.

   • Multi-stablecoin support, including the ability to pay gas fees in stablecoins via integrated AMM.

   • Decentralization roadmap, beginning with private testnets and gradually moving toward a permissionless model.

Major corporations such as Visa, Deutsche Bank, OpenAI, and Shopify are already testing Tempo, highlighting its potential to become a backbone for global payments.

Catalini’s warning: “A throat to choke”

Catalini argues that as long as there is a “throat to choke”—a corporate entity that regulators can hold accountable—Tempo cannot be truly decentralized. Much like Libra, it may achieve short-term success but risks undermining crypto’s long-term ambition if control remains concentrated in the hands of a few firms.

Conclusion

Tempo represents Stripe’s bold bid to reshape blockchain payments. For Catalini, however, it symbolizes more than a product launch—it is a test for crypto itself. The key question: will blockchain deliver financial liberation, or will it merely replicate old systems with new corporate rulers?

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