The Weekly Peg: The end of usury? (2/3)

Will stablecoins initiate a new era of (biblically compliant) zero-interest finance, or are workarounds already in the making?

Quick subscriber note: It’s been a busy couple of weeks, so we’re still getting through a backlog of stablecoin developments. More soon.

Industry news:

— Stripe-Backed Tempo raised $500 million to build a stablecoin payments network led by Joshua Kushner (brother of Jared)’s Thrive Capital (via Fortune).

Summary: Tempo is building a payments-layer blockchain optimized for U.S.-dollar stablecoins and global settlement, with partners including OpenAI, Shopify, and Visa. The capital raise values the firm at about $5 billion, representing one of the highest valued blockchain venture rounds over the past few years. It also marks a strong move toward mainstream digital-asset payments, positioning Tempo to become a core network for stablecoin and cross-border transactions in the evolving fintech landscape.

— Zelle, the payments product owned by America’s largest banks, plans to allow users to start making international payments with stablecoins.

Online commentary: Some online commentators argued the move functions as a proxy for a central bank digital currency, offering programmability and traceability without direct government issuance, thus avoiding political resistance.

— ODDO BHF launched its first euro-backed stablecoin.

Key graf: “ODDO BHF, independent European financial Group, has officially launched its first euro-backed stablecoin, EUROD. With this initiative, ODDO BHF becomes one of the first banking institutions in Europe to offer a secure and stable digital currency solution, combining the solidity of the traditional banking system with the advantages of blockchain technology.”