Why Link is a big step forward for consumer crypto
- 250 million consumers have a Link wallet with a stored fiat payment method.
- It supports a global set of payment methods like cards and bank accounts, as well as UPI, PIX, etc.
- It now stores stablecoins (on Tempo!) in a consumer-friendly UX. No complicated addresses required. Just a digital dollar balance that can be spent at 5 million merchants.
- It’s agent-native. The 5 million Stripe customers (as well as anyone who supports MPP) can immediately accept payments from agents using Link with no additional work. Virtually *every* leading AI company is a Stripe customer and works with Link.
Ultimately, this is crypto as plumbing providing faster, cheaper and global without any consumer behavior change necessary.
Subscriptions are live on Tempo.
Recurring billing on stablecoins has forced a tradeoff: re-prompt users at every charge, or pre-authorize a year of funds.
With access keys, a user (or agent!) can authorize a cap once (e.g. $50/week), and the service charges within that limit.
Tempo validates WebAuthn P256 signatures at the protocol level, not via smart contract. This is what passkey-native wallet infrastructure looks like technically. 🧵
Product implication: onboarding matches consumer fintech UX. Biometric auth, no wallet setup, no seed phrase. The blockchain layer is invisible to the user.
Wallet infrastructure partners supporting this model: Crossmint, Privy, Fireblocks, Turnkey.