This article is a part of Poland Unpacked. Weekly intelligence for decision-makers
Polish firm RedStone has found itself at the center of one of the most ambitious payments projects in recent years. Tempo, a project developed by Stripe and Paradigm, has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from technology and financial giants. Its goal is to build blockchain-based infrastructure for instant settlements in multiple currencies.
RedStone is set to become a key part of the infrastructure enabling instant payments in local currencies – including transactions executed by AI agents. The project, known as Tempo, was launched by payments giant Stripe and investment fund Paradigm. Together, they have secured USD 500m (around PLN 1.9bn / EUR 460m) in funding from investors including Thrive Capital and Greenoaks. OpenAI, Anthropic and Shopify are also involved in the initiative. Support has additionally come from Visa, Mastercard, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Revolut and Nubank.
“You could say this is the realization of Facebook’s old Libra dream. That project failed, but Stripe and Paradigm have taken a fresh approach to coordinating the world’s largest companies in building a payments ecosystem based on blockchain technology,” says Marcin Kaźmierczak, co-founder of RedStone.
What is at stake is a market already worth trillions of dollars. If the project succeeds, it could become one of the core infrastructure layers for automated payments – including those carried out by AI agents.
A major success for a Polish company
For RedStone, this is one of the most important clients in the company’s history. For the crypto market, it is another sign that blockchain-based infrastructure is steadily moving beyond speculation and toward real financial services. Tempo enables payments, instant international transfers and blockchain-based financial services, including derivatives, currency settlements and investment products available around the clock in both global fiat and crypto currencies.
Tempo launched in March this year, having previously secured substantial funding from some of the biggest names in technology and finance.
RedStone’s role is to provide the data without which many transactions could not operate securely. The startup aggregates information from more than 400 sources, including asset prices and market statistics – not only for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, but also for traditional financial assets including gold, silver and oil, as well as currency exchange rates, among them the Brazilian real and Mexican peso.
“As RedStone, we are the official data provider for the Tempo ecosystem. Thanks to us, all transactions within the Tempo network that rely on price logic can be executed,” says Marcin Kaźmierczak.
In practice, this means RedStone is set to become one of the mechanisms linking blockchain infrastructure with real-world market prices. In the industry, this type of infrastructure is known as an oracle. A blockchain network on its own has no knowledge of the price of the dollar, bitcoin, oil or the peso. For smart contracts to execute transactions, settle collateral or trigger lending mechanisms, they must receive reliable external data. If that data is incorrect, the consequences can be immediate – and costly.
Expert's perspective
Machine-to-Machine payments are the future
The traditional financial system – with KYC requirements, manual verification processes and rigid procedures – creates a major barrier for machines. That is precisely why cryptocurrencies are now getting a powerful second wind. Blockchain is a natural environment for AI. A machine cannot open a bank account, but it can seamlessly manage a wallet and sign transactions 24/7.
Stablecoins such as USDC are opening the door to a genuine machine-to-machine economy. They make it possible to process micropayments for data, computing power or API calls at fractions of a cent and without high transaction fees. Where traditional finance is too cumbersome and too slow, crypto is becoming the native settlement layer of the new economy.
Polish teams building interfaces between AI and payments are now doing strategically important work.
Another project reshaping finance
RedStone’s involvement in Tempo is also tied to the Morpho project. Morpho is a protocol that enables the creation of blockchain-based financial products – primarily loans, one of the core pillars of the financial system. According to Marcin Kaźmierczak, Morpho already manages assets worth billions of dollars. The protocol’s integration with Tempo further increases the importance of reliable pricing data, as the quality of that data determines not only the accurate settlement of transactions, but also the security of entire financial products.
“Morpho enables users to create loans backed by cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and tokenized assets such as gold. We provide information on different asset classes so the system can operate more securely – both for crypto assets and for traditional financial assets such as gold, silver and oil,” says the RedStone co-founder.
Until now, Tempo has operated primarily around the dollar and dollar-backed stablecoins – digital tokens whose value is pegged to the US dollar. RedStone is expected to help expand this infrastructure to support a broader range of currencies and assets.
That matters because the ambition of projects such as Tempo is not limited to processing dollar transfers. Their goal is to build a global settlement layer that can be used by fintechs, financial institutions and new blockchain-based applications.
Good to know
What are M2M payments?
M2M payments – short for machine-to-machine payments – are transactions initiated and settled automatically by digital systems, without the need for human involvement each time. In the context of artificial intelligence, this refers to situations in which one AI agent or model uses the services of another model, API, database, analytics tool or computing infrastructure, and independently pays for access to that service.
Take one example: an AI agent preparing a market report could automatically purchase access to a paid database, pay another specialized model for legal analysis, and then pay for chart generation or translation services. In such a scenario, a human is not clicking a “buy” button at every stage. Instead, the user sets the rules in advance – including the budget, spending limits, operational goals, list of trusted providers and scope of permissions.
Technically, these payments require three elements. First, the agent must know who is paying and on whose behalf it is acting. Second, there must be an authorization mechanism – proof that the agent has permission to spend a specified amount for a specified purpose. Third, a settlement layer is required: a card, bank account, stablecoin, digital wallet or another system capable of instant value transfer.
This is why protocols such as Google AP2, Coinbase x402, and “agentic commerce” solutions developed by Stripe and Mastercard are now emerging around this space. AP2 is designed to provide an authorization trail for purchases made by agents, x402 enables automated payments for online resources and APIs through an HTTP-based mechanism, while Stripe is developing infrastructure for commerce handled directly by AI agents.
What is RedStone’s role?
Marcin Kaźmierczak offers the example of a potential fintech company that would want to migrate part of its payment or settlement logic onto Tempo. Such a firm would require reliable FX rates, asset prices and broader market data. As an official oracle partner, RedStone can become a natural infrastructure provider for these types of players.
“This gives us access to very interesting global markets. Because we provide FX prices – foreign exchange rates – we will have the opportunity to work with players that want to build financial products on the Tempo blockchain. We can imagine a fintech in Brazil that wants to migrate part of its system onto Tempo. It will look for a reliable and trustworthy provider of asset prices. That is us,” says Marcin Kaźmierczak.
The second important dimension of this collaboration concerns artificial intelligence. Tempo is developing an on-chain payment model designed for AI agents. The idea is straightforward: if autonomous systems are to one day independently purchase services, invest, settle micropayments or respond to market events, they need access to money.
Traditional bank accounts are difficult for such agents to use: they require KYC (know-your-customer) procedures and an established relationship with a bank. Operating via a blockchain address is significantly simpler for them, and the underlying infrastructure is better suited to this use case.
“Imagine you have an AI model created by Anthropic, OpenAI or another company. You would like to assign such an AI agent a bank account. Today, that is very difficult. On the blockchain, however, accounts in the form of addresses can be created by anyone. The agent itself can do it as well,” says Kaźmierczak.
In such a scenario, an AI agent can be given funds and then execute transactions independently. It can react to market information, buy assets, move money between instruments or select investment strategies. This does not mean such a model is mainstream today, but it illustrates the direction in which part of the technology market is moving when it comes to the intersection of AI, stablecoins and blockchain infrastructure.
Expert's perspective
Crypto finally has a use case
Investors pleased with the project
The project’s creators speak with considerable optimism about its future.
“Tempo is now one of the most interesting new venues for developing institutional DeFi lending. Thanks to the broad range of price data provided by RedStone, we were able to immediately launch on Morpho a full suite of assets required by entities managing lending pools,” says Merlin Egalite, co-founder and CEO of Morpho.
Eric Kang, responsible for go-to-market strategy at Tempo, notes that the number of companies seeking to integrate DeFi functionality into their payment products is already growing.
“We are pleased that Morpho, RedStone, Gauntlet and Sentora will provide companies with broader access to DeFi on Tempo, enabling them to launch new products and use cases,” comments Eric Kang.
Expert's perspective
Cryptoassets face a strong future
According to Visa, the global supply of stablecoins exceeds USD 272bn (approximately PLN 1.08tn / EUR 250bn), while adjusted transaction volumes over the past 12 months reached around USD 10.2tn, up 63% year on year. This is no longer a niche experiment. In my view, we are at a point where cryptocurrencies are ceasing to be purely an investment theme and are beginning to function as technological infrastructure for a new, automated economy powered by artificial intelligence.
AI agents will require instant settlement for data, computing power, digital services and micropayments. Blockchain can become a transparent settlement layer, while stablecoins can serve as operational digital money. However, regulation, transaction limits and wallet security will be crucial. The greatest potential lies not in the slogan “AI plus crypto,” but in the practical integration of AI-driven decision-making with secure on-chain settlement.
Credora acquisition creates synergies
The Polish company was selected by Tempo representatives partly due to its strong track record in delivering accurate price data. RedStone has no history of incidents involving incorrect asset pricing data. At the same time, it holds Credora in its portfolio – a risk assessment company whose acquisition we covered in 2025.
“I strongly believe in Tempo’s growth, because for agents and the entire infrastructure to operate properly, they must have accurate data. If the data is incorrect, bad decisions will be made. Here, both our price engine at RedStone and Credora’s investment risk scoring can be useful,” says the RedStone co-founder.
Credora is a risk assessment company acquired by RedStone. Following the transaction, RedStone has been developing two areas: price and market data, as well as risk scoring for yield-generating instruments.
“You can imagine two investment strategies. One offers a 10% return, the other 6%. Naturally, a user would lean toward the 10%. We provide additional information: a rating of the strategy from D to A. If the first strategy has a C rating and the second an A rating, the investor may ultimately choose the lower return but potentially lower risk,” says Marcin Kaźmierczak.
How the startup is developing
RedStone currently employs around 50 people. The company does not disclose its revenues, but according to Marcin Kaźmierczak, both its client base and its share of the global market are growing.
The company is not currently planning another funding round. It closed its last Series A round in 2024 and is now mainly holding relationship-based discussions with venture capital funds. It provides updates on progress and answers questions, but is not actively raising capital.
“The blockchain market has slowed in recent months, which also affects our pace. But we are satisfied with how we are performing under these conditions. The blockchain and crypto industry is volatile; we experience periods of slowdown and stagnation. Some of our clients have started to run out of funding. They liked our product, but when the money runs out, it is difficult to maintain contracts. At the same time, we continue to acquire new clients and often win against competitors,” says Marcin Kaźmierczak.
Expert's perspective
How M2M payments are evolving
The AP2 protocol is an open technological standard developed through a broad market coalition of more than 100 industry partners, including Mastercard, PayPal, Visa, Salesforce and many other global technology and financial companies. As such, the race to automate payments and enable AI agents has already begun, and widespread adoption could arrive as soon as this year.
RedStone to expand
RedStone’s ambition remains to stay among the global leaders in oracle data providers. Marcin Kaźmierczak previously stated that the company aims to become the world’s largest blockchain oracle by the end of 2027. He now speaks more cautiously, but maintains that such a scenario remains possible.
“I still think it is possible, but I won’t hide the fact that competition, like us, is developing rapidly. We are now among the top three players globally. Whether we will overtake the leaders is hard to say, because they are also performing well,” says the RedStone co-founder.
The challenge is error-free performance. In the oracle industry, reputation is critical. A single mistake can lead to incorrect execution of smart contracts, user losses and the loss of customers for the data provider. Kaźmierczak stresses that RedStone has not had a major incident of this type since its inception.
“This market is built on trust. In recent months, two other players have run into problems. One is no longer in business because clients left; the other is facing serious difficulties. It is a game of how long you can operate without issues and how strongly you maintain customer trust,” he says.
RedStone also has other growth ideas. In June, the company is organizing the TokenizeThis conference in New York for the financial sector, bringing together representatives of large institutions, including investment banks and infrastructure firms. This is part of a broader strategy: moving the company from the crypto niche toward institutional finance.
Key Takeaways
- The collaboration with Tempo fits into RedStone’s broader strategy to move beyond the crypto niche and strengthen its position in institutional finance. The company is expanding not only its price data offering but also its risk assessment capabilities through the acquisition of Credora. At the same time, it operates in a challenging market that has slowed in recent months, with some clients reducing spending. Nevertheless, RedStone reports growth in its client base and maintains its ambition to remain among the global leaders in oracle data providers.
- The Polish company RedStone has found itself at the center of a major international project, Tempo, initiated by Stripe and Paradigm. The project aims to develop blockchain-based payment infrastructure, including instant cross-border transfers, settlements in local currencies, and solutions for AI agents. For RedStone, this represents an entry into an ecosystem being built with the participation of the world’s largest technology and financial players, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Shopify, Visa, Mastercard, Revolut and Deutsche Bank.
- RedStone’s role is to provide reliable market data essential for the secure functioning of smart contracts. The company acts as an oracle – a bridge between blockchain systems and real-world prices of assets, currencies and commodities. This is critical, as incorrect data can lead to faulty transactions, user losses and a loss of trust. It is precisely RedStone’s reputation and absence of major incidents that were among the key reasons why Tempo selected the company.