Tempo Blockchain
A general-purpose blockchain optimized for payments, featuring instant finality, stablecoin-native fees, and full EVM compatibility.
What is Tempo?
Tempo is a next-generation blockchain designed from the ground up for payment applications. Unlike traditional blockchains that use volatile native tokens for gas fees, Tempo operates entirely in USD-denominated stablecoins. This makes it ideal for real-world payment use cases where price predictability matters.
The network achieves instant deterministic finality through Simplex BFT consensus, meaning transactions are final in approximately 0.5 seconds with zero re-organization risk. Combined with fixed transaction fees paid in stablecoins, Tempo provides the reliability and predictability that payment applications require.
Key Features
No Native Gas Token
Transaction fees are paid in any USD-denominated TIP-20 stablecoin with liquidity on the Fee AMM. No need to hold volatile tokens for gas.
Instant Finality
Simplex BFT consensus provides deterministic finality in ~0.5 seconds. Once a transaction is included in a block, it's final forever.
Full EVM Compatibility
Deploy existing Solidity contracts without modifications. All Ethereum tools work out of the box: Foundry, Hardhat, ethers.js, viem.
Fixed Base Fee
Unlike EIP-1559's variable fees, Tempo uses a fixed base fee. Transaction costs are predictable and denominated in USD.
Technical Overview
EVM Differences
Tempo is EVM compatible with Osaka fork support. The main differences stem from the absence of a native gas token. The BALANCE,SELFBALANCE, andCALLVALUE opcodes always return zero. Use TIP-20 token contracts for balance queries instead.
TIP-20 Token Standard
TIP-20 extends ERC-20 with payment-specific features including memo support for transaction metadata, policy registry integration for compliance controls, and gas sponsorship capabilities. All stablecoins on Tempo implement TIP-20.
TIP-403 Policy Registry
The policy registry enables sophisticated access controls and compliance features. Policies can implement whitelists, blacklists, transfer limits, and custom logic. Tokens reference policies for transfer validation.
Tempo Transactions
Tempo introduces a new EIP-2718 transaction type with native support for WebAuthn/P256 signatures (passkeys), batch operations, scheduled payments, and fee sponsorship. Standard Ethereum transactions are also supported.
Network Information
Resources
This is an unofficial community hub for interacting with Tempo Testnet. For official resources, visit tempo.xyz