The Headlines

• Circle launches Arc, an EVM-compatible, permissioned L1 with 20 regulated validators.

• Stripe is building Tempo, an L1 that will reportedly use Paradigm’s Rust-based RETH client.
  Both moves have reignited the debate: “Is this good or bad for crypto—and for my bags?”

Permissioned L1s: Boring but Strategic
Right now, Arc and Tempo look like private settlement databases that simply borrow blockchain data structures. No tokens, no open validator sets—just faster rails for USDC or Stripe payouts.

If they never issue tokens, they remain corporate intranets.
If they do issue tokens—history suggests they eventually will—they edge closer to open, programmable platforms (see: Base). Either way, the EVM wins.

Why EVM Becomes the New Excel

1. Robinhood was the first TradFi firm to staff up EVM engineers for its own chain.

2. Circle and Stripe are now hiring the same talent.

3. Every legacy finance player that touches crypto will need EVM expertise to modernize back-office logic, just as they once leaned on Excel for modeling and reconciliation.

The EVM is no longer just a crypto-native runtime; it is the spreadsheet software of 21st-century finance. Owning EVM literacy is how Wall Street keeps market share instead of ceding it to Ethereum-native innovators.

Second-Order Effects on ETH
These corporate chains may never decentralize, but they expand the EVM empire. More EVM code, more tooling, more mindshare—and every road in that empire ultimately funnels value, liquidity, and attention back to Ethereum’s base asset: ETH. The effect is indirect, but it compounds.

Bottom Line
Arc and Tempo are early signals. Whether they stay permissioned or open up, EVM ubiquity is now a TradFi hiring mandate. In the long arc, that’s quietly bullish for ETH—even if the headlines feel corporate and dull.

The Headlines

• Circle launches Arc, an EVM-compatible, permissioned L1 with 20 regulated validators.

• Stripe is building Tempo, an L1 that will reportedly use Paradigm’s Rust-based RETH client.
  Both moves have reignited the debate: “Is this good or bad for crypto—and for my bags?”

Permissioned L1s: Boring but Strategic
Right now, Arc and Tempo look like private settlement databases that simply borrow blockchain data structures. No tokens, no open validator sets—just faster rails for USDC or Stripe payouts.

If they never issue tokens, they remain corporate intranets.
If they do issue tokens—history suggests they eventually will—they edge closer to open, programmable platforms (see: Base). Either way, the EVM wins.

Why EVM Becomes the New Excel

1. Robinhood was the first TradFi firm to staff up EVM engineers for its own chain.

2. Circle and Stripe are now hiring the same talent.

3. Every legacy finance player that touches crypto will need EVM expertise to modernize back-office logic, just as they once leaned on Excel for modeling and reconciliation.

The EVM is no longer just a crypto-native runtime; it is the spreadsheet software of 21st-century finance. Owning EVM literacy is how Wall Street keeps market share instead of ceding it to Ethereum-native innovators.

Second-Order Effects on ETH
These corporate chains may never decentralize, but they expand the EVM empire. More EVM code, more tooling, more mindshare—and every road in that empire ultimately funnels value, liquidity, and attention back to Ethereum’s base asset: ETH. The effect is indirect, but it compounds.

Bottom Line
Arc and Tempo are early signals. Whether they stay permissioned or open up, EVM ubiquity is now a TradFi hiring mandate. In the long arc, that’s quietly bullish for ETH—even if the headlines feel corporate and dull.