Open USD, a new stablecoin from Open Standard, debuted this week across Ethereum, Solana, Coinbase's Base platform, and Stripe's Tempo infrastructure. Five major payment and financial technology companies—Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe, and Visa—serve as founding partners with equal ownership stakes.
The launch is accompanied by liquidity commitments exceeding $1 billion from the founding coalition. These partners will support OUSD through various mechanisms, including direct token holdings, market operations, and ecosystem integration.
Vision and Differentiating Strategy
Open Standard CEO Zach Abrams outlined the stablecoin's intended purpose: to function as practical currency for everyday transactions rather than a speculative asset. "We want to be the most useful stablecoin, the same way the U.S. dollar is useful," Abrams stated, noting that competing stablecoins often operate more like investment vehicles than spending money.
Open USD distinguishes itself through its ownership and revenue model. Founding stakeholders will not receive preferential revenue allocations; instead, compensation will correlate directly with measurable contributions to OUSD supply expansion and transaction volume. The platform eliminates transaction fees for both creation and redemption processes.
Partnership Expansion
Open Standard initially announced its stablecoin strategy in June, mentioning over 140 prospective corporate collaborators including BlackRock, BNY, and Standard Chartered. Currently, five organizations have formalized investment agreements, with Abrams anticipating the core founding group expanding to approximately 10 to 12 enterprises.
Beyond the founding partners, interest in OUSD integration has expanded to more than 200 organizations, including Japan's SBI Holdings, UBS banking group, and fintech provider Jeeves.
Market Context
The global stablecoin sector has surpassed $300 billion in total value, dominated by Tether's USDT with approximately $143 billion in circulation and Circle's USDC with around $74 billion outstanding. Open Standard aims to expand the collaborative revenue model beyond traditional stablecoin providers, which typically retain most interest revenue from reserve assets.
Circle's market position has faced headwinds following the Open USD announcement. Financial firm Mizuho downgraded Circle's investment rating from Neutral to Underperform in July and reduced its price objective from $85 to $50, citing competitive pressure from Open USD as the primary catalyst.
Notably, Coinbase, Visa, and Mastercard continue maintaining collaborative relationships with Circle's USDC despite supporting OUSD. Abrams also mentioned that Open Standard is receiving requests for stablecoins denominated in alternative currencies, particularly from European financial institutions.
