Opinion: Ray Song, aPriori Founder
If you’re in the market long enough, you’ll start to see patterns. The tools we trade and the rails we build are never static. One of the biggest changes currently happening in cryptocurrencies is the base layer.
For years, the Layer 1 conversation has been dominated by Ethereum when you want composability and a broad developer base, Solana when you want speed, and Cosmos when you want sovereignty. Choosing L1 felt like choosing a trading venue and evaluating fees, liquidity, and execution.
But recently, the decision has shifted from being tactical to being strategic. In addition to developers deciding which side of the ecosystem to choose, large companies are now building blockchains from scratch. And when the companies doing it are Stripe, Coinbase, or other giants with significant regulatory and distribution advantages, L1 stops being a neutral playing field and starts to look more like a moat.
striped tempo moment
Check out Stripe news. It has been revealed that Layer 1 “Tempo”, which specializes in payments, is being built in partnership with Paradigm. If you’ve been trading long enough, you know that Stripe doesn’t do this for no reason. This is the responsibility of the payment layer, which controls the base layer, fees, and uptime.
In traditional markets, clearing and settlement are often invisible to end users, but that’s where the real impact lies. Tempo provides Stripe with a chain built for predictable fees, deterministic settlement times, and merchant distribution like no other. This is 20 years of muscle memory for payment processors applied to crypto rails.
From permissionless to permissioned
A clear spectrum is emerging. On the one hand, we have fully decentralized and censorship-resistant protocols. These chains may lack the sophistication and compliance comfort that financial institutions seek, but they are the melting pot where real innovation happens. Early Ethereum, even today Bitcoin, new privacy chains are pushing the boundaries of what is possible without KYC gates.
Conversely, enterprise-managed L1s work with regulated custodians and exchanges. Coinbase’s Base chain is already live. Binance’s BNB chain is essentially a corporate ecosystem. Stripe joins that tier.
Hybrids are in between. L1 wants to be open enough to attract the crypto-native crowd, yet structured enough to keep institutions comfortable. This halfway point is where some of the most interesting battles take place. Because that’s the only place where the two sides are likely to meet.
This is not a level playing field.
Crypto-native founders cannot compete with Stripe or Coinbase in terms of distribution or regulatory terms. Leading companies can obtain a license overnight and onboard millions of sellers with an API call.
Related:AAfter stablecoin push, Stripe acquires crypto wallet developer Privy
That doesn’t mean it’s hopeless for unauthorized builders, but things change. It would be suicidal to compete head-on on the same vector (licenses, institutional distribution). The opportunity is that a company’s L1 can’t or won’t do it.
They are not willing to prioritize privacy features that might raise regulators’ eyebrows, and all new features require legal approval, so they cannot move forward with shipping new DeFi primitives as quickly. They must always balance diversification with shareholder value.
Where there are still opportunities
The most important advancement in DeFi has happened because anyone can connect to someone else’s contracts without asking permission. This is even more difficult to do in L1, where there are guardrails managed by companies. If you can offer true configurability, you’ll attract builders who can’t.
Crypto-native founders can also experiment with tokenomics, governance models, or cross-chain integration if existing companies need to perform risk assessments.
Finally, people forget how important cultural alignment is. Ethereum has an identity, Bitcoin has a mission. If you can articulate a vision that resonates with a specific user base, such as privacy maximalists, DeFi proliferators, or local adoption niches, you can beat your company’s L1 in those segments.
The emergence of firm L1 changes the liquidity map. Once Stripe’s Tempo gains traction among sellers, you’ll see a high volume of predictable flow, perfect for low-risk revenue-generating strategies. However, volatility and asymmetric opportunities remain on the permissionless frontier, where protocol changes, governance shifts, or market narratives can cause valuations to shift overnight.
In permissionless chains, risks are technical and market-driven. In corporate chains, risks are determined by regulations and business models. While it may not technically be affected by tempo, policy updates can hurt your bottom line.
final stage
This is not a zero-sum battle between corporate and permissionless chains. They will likely complement each other. An enterprise’s L1 handles compliant, high-volume flows that bring conservative capital, while permissionless chains continue to push the boundaries and create innovations that enterprises ultimately adopt.
For both traders and builders, true alpha comes from understanding how value moves between these worlds. The Stripe Tempo news shows that the base tier is now strategic real estate. And in the market, those who control the rails ultimately control the profits.
Opinion: Ray Song, aPriori Founder.
This article is for general informational purposes only and is not intended to be, and should not be taken as, legal or investment advice. The views, ideas, and opinions expressed herein are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.