Kraken and Tempo have announced a partnership to provide institutional payments and stablecoin infrastructure to fintechs and neobanks building on-chain.
The arrangement gives payments companies, neobanks, remittance providers, and stablecoin issuers building on Tempo access to Kraken's institutional services (spanning liquidity, on/off-ramps, qualified custody, and exchange listings) through a single commercial relationship rather than multiple vendor engagements.
As part of the integration, USDT0 and USDC.e deposits and withdrawals are now live on Kraken via Tempo, with Kraken described as the first major US exchange to natively support the chain.
Institutional stack and service scope
According to the official press release, the partnership makes available Kraken's full institutional offering to teams operating on Tempo. This includes spot and over-the-counter liquidity across stablecoins, fiat pairs, and major assets, with coverage across regions where stablecoin-based payments volumes are growing. On/off-ramp access is available directly via user interface, programmatically via API, or embedded through Payward Services.
Qualified custody is provided through Kraken Financial, a Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI), covering stablecoin reserves, operating treasuries, and protocol assets. In addition, the SPDI structure operates under a dedicated US regulatory framework for digital asset custody.
Teams issuing tokens or stablecoins natively on Tempo also receive access to Kraken's listings team, along with distribution to Kraken's verified user base. Compliance functions, including KYB verification, transaction monitoring, and sanctions screening, are handled within Kraken's existing regulatory infrastructure.
Context and market relevance
The partnership reflects a broader shift in how payment platforms and stablecoin issuers are approaching on-chain infrastructure. As cross-border payment flows, merchant settlement, and remittance volumes increasingly move on-chain, demand for institutional-grade services has grown alongside the technical build-out.
Furthermore, Tempo's positioning as a payment-focused Layer 1 chain, backed by Paradigm and Stripe, places it within a competitive field of blockchain networks targeting the payments use case. Stripe's involvement in particular signals institutional confidence in stablecoin-based payment rails, given its position as a major payment technology provider.
Through the process of consolidating liquidity, custody, ramp access, and listing support under one partnership, the arrangement aims to lower the operational complexity for teams building on Tempo that would otherwise need to establish separate relationships with multiple infrastructure providers.
