Codex

Codex is a secure, high-throughput Ethereum L2 designed for enterprises that require stablecoins in real-world financial processes (payroll, finance, trade) while prioritizing compliance, predictability, and privacy. It is tailored for native stablecoin payments, forex, and settlement.

Core Technology: Built on OP Stack and hosted by Conduit.

Fee Model: Transaction fees and Gas abstraction mechanisms are optimized for stablecoin flows, with deterministic execution ensuring institutional-grade reliability.

Built-in Features: Includes native forex and custody functionalities to support multi-currency settlement. Additionally, the solution relies on Ethereum mainnet for final settlement to ensure security and finality.

In terms of funding, Codex raised $15.8 million in a seed round led by Dragonfly, with support from Circle Ventures, Coinbase, Cumberland, and Wintermute. Its mainnet launched in mid-2024.

Noble

Noble initially emerged as a native asset issuance chain within the Cosmos ecosystem, aiming to bring USDC and other stablecoins to appchains connected via IBC (Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol). To date, Noble has processed over $8 billion in transaction volume, facilitating stablecoin liquidity for dYdX and other Cosmos appchains.
To address programmability limitations, Noble is launching an EVM-compatible rollup called Noble AppLayer, secured by Celestia, with 100ms block times and support for composable stablecoin yields via USDN (Noble’s native stablecoin). It also enables liquidity provisioning to EVM chains via Hyperlane/IBC, serves as a gateway for Noble’s issuance services to EVM chains, and remains fully compatible with the Cosmos ecosystem, allowing developers to build stablecoin-based applications and expand to more blockchain networks.

For funding, Noble closed a $15 million Series A round last year led by Paradigm. Noble AppLayer is expected to launch this summer.

Arc

Circle announced Arc, a blockchain designed specifically for stablecoin finance, aiming to bridge traditional finance with native stablecoin chains and support internet-scale applications. Arc boasts ~3,000 TPS, sub-350ms finality, and is operated by 20 validators.

Fee Model: Uses USDC as the native Gas token and supports interest-bearing stablecoin USYC.

Built-in Features: Arc includes a native forex engine for on-chain inter-institutional forex swaps via a Request-for-Quote (RFQ) mechanism and offers optional privacy features, enabling confidential transfers via view keys.

To address MEV (Maximal Extractable Value), Arc has outlined a mitigation roadmap including encrypted mempools, transaction batching, and multi-proposer mechanisms. Arc seeks to connect TradFi and stablecoin-native chains at internet scale. It is also deeply integrated with Circle’s infrastructure, natively supporting CCTP and Gateway for cross-chain interoperability, offering chain-abstracted balance management, and providing enterprises with tools like on-chain invoicing, refunds, and AI-powered financial management.

While not pursuing maximal decentralization, Arc positions itself to embed tokenized dollars into corporate payments, forex, and financial workflows. A private testnet will launch in the coming weeks, with a public testnet expected this fall, initially centered on USDC but open to other digital dollars and tokenized assets.

Tempo

Tempo is a stablecoin blockchain by payments giant Stripe and prominent crypto VC Paradigm, focusing on payments and Ethereum compatibility, with Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang as CEO. Tempo eschews native volatile tokens, using only stablecoins for transaction fees, and aims to deeply integrate with Stripe’s existing merchant ecosystem.

The project also leverages Stripe’s prior acquisitions of Bridge (stablecoin infrastructure) and Privy (wallet infrastructure supporting social logins) to enhance user experience and compliance. Tempo’s goal is to embed stablecoin payment rails into Stripe’s global infrastructure while maintaining seamless user experience and compliance workflows.

Common Traits and Future Outlook

All the above native stablecoin chains share key characteristics:

Stablecoin-Paid Gas: Transaction fees are paid directly in stablecoins.

High Performance: Sub-second finality and throughput ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of TPS.

Low-Cost Transfers: Fee waivers or subsidized transfers are standard.

Fiat Connectivity: Direct pathways to traditional banking systems.

Use Cases: Designed for real-world financial applications beyond crypto-native activities.

Moving forward, we are likely to see a multi-chain landscape for stablecoins. Each chain may align closely with an issuer or product suite, but all serve the same global need: a better way to move money.

Ultimately, the winners will be platforms that seamlessly power every checkout, payroll, and cross-border remittance on-chain.