Stripe Develops Payments Blockchain, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Accepts Crypto & More

Welcome back!

This is J264G and this week I’ve got these titbits for you:

• Stablecoin Catalyst: Stripe is developing its own blockchain called “Tempo”. 

• Space Jam: Blue Origin to accept crypto payments in BTC, SOL & stablecoins.

• Endowment Flush: Harvard University disclosed a $116 million stake in IBIT.

No need for a long preamble this week, the clip below delivers all the crypto conviction you need.

Now, let’s jump right into this week’s newsletter!

Click on any underlined heading/hyperlink to learn more.

Spotlight

Crawler Crackdown

Cloudflare has become the first major internet infrastructure provider to block AI platforms by default, automatically denying access to new websites unless explicit permission or compensation is granted. 

The move is aimed at addressing what Cloudflare describes as a broken content economy in the AI era. Data from the company shows the scale of the imbalance: Google’s bot returns one referral click for every 14 crawls; OpenAI’s bot delivers one for every 1,700; Anthropic’s bot one for every 73,000. For content publishers, this is an unsustainable model.

Early August marked the flashpoint in rising tensions, when Cloudflare accused Perplexity of evading blocks by using “stealth” crawlers disguised as regular browsers and rotating IP addresses. Perplexity denies wrongdoing, and some argue the company acts less like a bulk data miner and more like a user proxy, fetching content only in response to individual queries. 

Over half of internet traffic is now generated by bots, much of it AI-driven. To that end, Cloudflare’s proposed solution is to formalise a paid-access model, turning the web into an API economy where AI services pay per request. While the current implementation uses Cloudflare accounts to manage payments, many argue that cryptocurrencies, particularly stablecoins, in conjunction with noncustodial wallets would be better suited.

Micropayments via stablecoins such as USDC could replace the old ad-driven model with “pay-per-use” economics. In this vision, an AI agent—equipped with a noncustodial wallet and USDC—would pay fractions of a cent each time it accessed content, providing creators with steady compensation without human intervention. These blockchain-based payments offer near-zero transaction costs and can execute programmatically, making them well-suited for machine-to-machine commerce.

Having said that, universal adoption of a “pay-per-use” economy still faces significant hurdles. Common standards must be set, and it is unclear whether AI platforms will absorb these costs or push them onto users. There is also the risk of a tiered internet, where only paying agents can access premium content. And an open question remains: should human visitors be treated like bots, subject to the same restrictions and fees?

That said, Cloudflare’s approach has real potential. With the right evolution, it could redefine the value of online content and usher in an internet economy built for the age of machine-scale consumption.

Chart Of The Week

News Bites

Stablecoin Catalyst: Stripe is developing a proprietary, high-performance blockchain—internally known as “Tempo”—designed for payments and settlement at scale. Built in partnership with venture firm Paradigm, Tempo signals Stripe’s intent to create infrastructure optimised for global, low-latency transactions while competing directly with incumbent payment rails.

Space Jam: Blue Origin will soon accept payment in leading cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, including Bitcoin, Solana (SOL), USDT, and USDC. The integration, powered by payments firm Shift4, reflects a growing trend in high-end experiences adopting crypto payments. 

Crypto Retirement: President Trump signed an executive order to broaden permissible 401(k) investments to include private equity, real estate, cryptocurrencies, and other alternatives. The change opens the door for asset managers to tap into the trillions of dollars held in US retirement accounts. 

Liquid Staking: Last week, the SEC stated that liquid staking tokens would not be classified as securities. This clarification could pave the way for their inclusion in exchange-traded funds, further integrating them into mainstream financial products.

Endowment Flush: Harvard University disclosed a $116 million stake in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT), making it the largest known Bitcoin allocations by a US university. Brown University has also set up a IBIT position, signalling a deepening institutional acceptance of Bitcoin specifically, and cryptocurrencies in general.

Private Equity: Earlybird, a Solana-powered platform enabling long and short positions on leading private startups, is currently in private alpha. With more than 500 people already on its waitlist, demand for a liquid market in pre-IPO equity appears to be gathering pace.

Private Markets: Speaking of private markets, PreStocks launched on Solana last week, offering tokenised access to pre-IPO shares in private firms such as SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anduril. The move represents a further step towards democratising access to high-growth companies before they list publicly.

Deal Flow

When the Solana ecosystem moves, it moves fast.

We give capital allocators an unfair advantage: high-signal research, due diligence, and warm intros.  

Drop us a line and we’ll help take your Solana deal flow to the next level.

Caught In 4K

Weekly Take

Keks & Giggles

And that's a wrap!

You can reach me anytime over on 𝕏.

Talk soon!

J264G

_{DISCLAIMER
None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research. Lastly, please be advised that we discuss products and services from our partners from which our team members may hold tokens/equity.}