Farcaster Founders Shift Focus to Stablecoin Payments With Tempo

Farcaster co-founders Dan Romero and Varun Srinivasan are officially pivoting away from crypto-native social media and moving into blockchain-based payments, announcing on Monday that they are joining stablecoin-focused startup Tempo. The move marks a significant shift in strategy for two prominent builders in the crypto space and highlights the growing momentum behind stablecoins and cross-border payment infrastructure.

The announcement comes shortly after Farcaster, once promoted as a decentralized alternative to Twitter where users controlled their identities and data, was acquired by Neynar. Neynar has long served as a key infrastructure provider for Farcaster, offering APIs and developer tools that support applications built on the network. Following the acquisition, Romero, Srinivasan, and several members of their team at Merkle, the company behind Farcaster, stepped away from the project, signaling the end of their direct involvement in crypto social media.

In a post on X, Romero said his attention is now fully focused on building a “fast, inexpensive and transparent” global payments network at Tempo. That statement underscores the founders’ belief that blockchain technology may have a more immediate and scalable impact in financial infrastructure than in decentralized social platforms, which have struggled to achieve mainstream adoption.

Tempo, which launched quietly last year, has quickly emerged as one of the most closely watched startups in the stablecoin sector. The company is well-capitalized and was incubated by payments giant Stripe alongside leading crypto venture firm Paradigm. Both backers bring deep experience in building and scaling global financial systems, lending credibility to Tempo’s ambition to reshape international payments.

The startup aims to use stablecoins to power cross-border transactions, offering an alternative to traditional systems that are often slow, expensive, and lacking transparency. By leveraging blockchain technology and dollar-pegged digital assets, Tempo seeks to reduce settlement times and fees while improving visibility for businesses and users moving money across borders.

The decision by Romero and Srinivasan to join Tempo reflects a broader industry trend, as builders increasingly prioritize real-world financial use cases like stablecoin payments over experimental consumer crypto apps. As global demand for faster and cheaper international payments grows, Tempo’s approach could place it at the center of the next major phase of blockchain adoption.