The team behind Merkle and Farcaster just hopped over to join Tempo

Farcaster founders Dan Romero and Varun Srinivasan have joined stablecoin-focused crypto startup Tempo in a move aimed at bringing the project to the mass market.

The Farcaster co-founders said on Monday that they are joining the stablecoin company Tempo, marking their next step after stepping down from leadership roles at the decentralized social protocol earlier this year.

Romero and Srinivasan’s move to Tempo follows the sale of Farcaster to Neynar and the founders’ exit from executive positions at the social network. Meanwhile, Tempo, founded last year with backing from Stripe and Paradigm, has become one of the most well-funded new networks focused on stablecoin-based payments.

Tempo positions itself as a payments-focused blockchain optimized for stablecoin settlement and global transfers—an area drawing increasing attention as banks, fintech firms, and crypto companies seek to modernize cross-border payment systems.

Backed by Stripe and Paradigm, the company raised $500 million last year at a $5 billion valuation.

In December, Tempo launched a public testnet for its layer-1 blockchain and said companies such as Mastercard, UBS, and Kalshi are development partners, while firms including Klarna plan to issue stablecoins on its network.

Romero and Srinivasan had previously said they planned to build a crypto wallet for Farcaster after the protocol was acquired by decentralized social infrastructure firm Neynar. However, they are now shifting their focus to stablecoins, with the Merkle Manufactory team behind Farcaster also moving to Tempo.

As we wrote, Stripe and Paradigm unveil Tempo blockchain for instant global payments