Solana’s Breakpoint conference kicked off yesterday in Abu Dhabi, and the Layer 1 is clearly making its play to become a top tokenization chain.

State Street came out first, revealing a $200 million tokenized private equity fund with Galaxy on Solana. Hours later, JPMorgan followed with its first full debt issuance on a public chain — also with Galaxy, also on Solana.

While there were crypto-native product announcements too (see here, here, and here), the big takeaway is that every major Layer 1 is now rolling out the red carpet for institutions after years of infrastructure buildout.

And it’s no surprise, given that even Michael Burry has now started getting smart on tokenization.

Today, we’ll also talk about:

• Tempo launches public testnet

• U.S. regulation: summary of a week with major updates

• LI.FI raises $29 million for cross-chain aggregation

Tempo: Stripe-backed Payments Chain Goes Live on Testnet

Go-live: A few months after its initial unveiling in September, the Stripe-backed Layer 1 Tempo launched its public testnet on Tuesday, opening the network for anyone to begin building. The rollout of the payments-focused chain is accompanied by day-one support from more than 40 infrastructure partners and from over a dozen institutions and enterprises, such as Deutsche Bank, Visa, and Klarna.

Why it matters: Stablecoins processed more than $9 trillion in user-generated volume over the past 12 months, putting them in the same league as major payment networks like PayPal ($1.7 trillion) and Visa ($16 trillion). With projections of this figure growing tenfold by 2030, it is no surprise that startups and established players have entered a race to develop purpose-built payments infrastructure and capture the economics tied to this activity.

• A crowded field: After first movers like Codex and Plasma went live earlier this year, competition has been heating up in recent weeks, with big players like Circle and now Stripe moving closer to production.

A strong contender? Developed by fintech giant Stripe and crypto VC firm Paradigm, Tempo is widely viewed as one of the strongest contenders in this emerging race. Its position is reinforced by significant financial backing, including a $500 million Series A at a $5 billion valuation with participation from top-tier investors such as Sequoia and Ribbit Capital.

How it differs: According to Tempo’s newly published documentation, the network aims to attract institutions, enterprises, and developers by offering payments capabilities not typically found on general-purpose blockchains.

1. Dedicated payment lanes: Payments receive guaranteed blockspace at the protocol level, ensuring they continue to process smoothly even when the rest of the network is congested. Fees also stay low and predictable during spikes, with a target cost of $0.001 per transaction, preserving stable and reliable unit economics.

2. Built-in stablecoin DEX: To support a multi-stablecoin ecosystem, Tempo includes a native DEX optimized for stablecoins and tokenized deposits, consolidating liquidity so conversions and cross-stablecoin payments execute efficiently and at best prices.

3. Tempo transactions: The network’s transaction format abstracts away much of the friction typical for blockchain payments. Users can pay fees in any USD-denominated stablecoin; developers can sponsor gas to remove onboarding hurdles, and scheduled transactions enable subscription-like flows. Native memo fields allow invoice numbers or other metadata to move with payments, effectively functioning as onchain receipts.

Use case buildout: These design choices reflect the needs of the institutions Tempo is targeting. According to Simon Taylor, Tempo’s Head of Market Development, early partners already explore use cases such as remittances, global payouts, embedded finance, tokenized deposits, and agentic commerce.

What’s next: With the testnet now live, Tempo is focusing on two priorities ahead of next year’s mainnet launch. First, adding privacy features that maintain compliance, auditability, and reporting. Second, building onchain FX capabilities in collaboration with regulated non-USD stablecoin issuers.

U.S. Regulatory Update: CFTC Allows Crypto Collateral, Market Structure Bill Talks Intensify

Big week: The past few days in Washington have seen a surge of crypto policy movement.

• In a major announcement, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) took another step toward integrating digital assets more deeply into the traditional financial system.

• At the same time, talks between Senate Democrats and Republicans over the current market structure bill grew more tense, slowing progress ahead of the holiday recess.

Crypto collateral: On Monday, the CFTC issued guidance removing outdated restrictions and clarifying how digital assets can be used in U.S. derivatives markets. It also launched a pilot program that initially allows BTC, ETH, and USDC to serve as eligible collateral under strict oversight, with further guidance expected on tokenized assets such as U.S. Treasuries.

• Why it matters: The move advances crypto’s integration into regulated markets and improves capital efficiency by letting firms post digital assets already on their balance sheets instead of converting to fiat or borrowing against them.

• Less liquidity risk: It could also strengthen liquidity management for traditional derivatives markets. As Circle President Heath Tarbert noted: “Enabling near-real-time margin settlement will mitigate settlement-failure and liquidity-squeeze risks across evenings, weekends, and holidays.”

Market structure bill: In parallel, discussions around the market structure bill — intended to provide regulatory clarity for digital assets and divide oversight between the SEC and CFTC — intensified after Democrats negotiating the bill reacted to a recent draft published by Senate Republicans. Both sides must agree on a draft before the bill can move to the full Senate.

Unresolved issues: While Democrats say they accept “significant portions” of the Republican draft, they are still pushing for changes in three key areas:

1. Stablecoin yield: Democrats want to preserve the intent of the GENIUS Act, which bars issuers from paying interest on payment stablecoins. They fear large-scale yield offerings could draw deposits away from community banks, raising bank run risks.

2. DeFi: They also seek ways to block services used by sanctioned actors and tighter oversight for platforms facilitating high-volume flows. Industry voices like the Blockchain Association’s Jake Chervinsky warn that the current draft risks treating DeFi developers like traditional intermediaries, arguing that “there is no market structure bill without developer protections, because there is no crypto without developer protections.”

3. Ethics rules: Lastly, Democrats demand tighter restrictions on lawmakers and senior officials, including limits on promoting or issuing digital assets while in office and stricter disclosure requirements.

What’s next: With these core disagreements unlikely to be resolved quickly, meaningful progress before Christmas appears highly unlikely, pushing negotiations into the new year.

What’s the news?

• Yesterday, the leading liquidity aggregator and cross-chain infrastructure provider LI.FI announced its $29 million Series A extension round, funded by Multicoin Capital and CoinFund.

• The company powers 800+ B2B partners by routing and executing swaps and cross-chain transfers, now processing around $8 billion in monthly volume (approximately 70% swaps, 30% bridging) for customers like Ledger, Robinhood, Fireblocks, Kraken, MetaMask, and Binance.

Behind-the-scenes: We spoke with Philipp Zentner, founder and CEO of LI.FI, on how the company intends to use the funds and what he is currently observing in his work with major wallet providers and exchanges.