Open Standard Launches OpenUSD backed by Visa, Mastercard, and 140+ Firms

Open Standard announced the launch of OpenUSD (OUSD) this week. The dollar backed stablecoin is built and governed by a consortium of more than 140+ companies that span from payments, fintech, crypto, banking, technology and consumer services. 

What is OpenUSD and why is it such a defining moment for stablecoins? Read on below to know more.

Key Takeaways

• Backed by more than 140+ companies like Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Coinbase, Blackrock, Google, Shopify, and BNY among many, Open Standard launched OpenUSD (OUSD) this week. 

• What makes it different: instead of the issuer keeping the yield, most of it gets shared among the partners who distribute the token. 

• No fees and no volume caps when minting and redeeming OUSD. 

• Market reactions: Circle’s (issuer of USDC) stock dropped 13%-17% on the day of the announcement as markets reacted to the new competitor. 

• To launch later in 2026 across Solana, Base, Stellar and Polygon. 

The Announcement and Launch

Most stablecoin launches have a familiar script: A company issues a token and backs it with reserves and keeps the yield those reserves typically generate. This is exactly the model that has built Tether ( issuer of USDT) and Circle (issuer of USDC) to a $145 billion and $73 billion company respectively. 

OpenUSD breaks this script before it even goes live. 

Backed by more than 140+ firms, which include Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, Coinbase and Blackrock, they’ve joined Open Standard to launch OpenUSD. 

OpenUSD (OUSD) will share most of its reserve earnings amongst them rather than keep it to a single issuer. The backers include the who’s who of global finance, technology, crypto, fintech and banking alike: American Express, Google, Shopify, BNY, Standard Chartered, BBVA, Fireblocks, DBS and more just to name a few. 

The coalition of backers describes OUSD as an initiative designed to accelerate global digital payments, expanding enterprise adoption of blockchain based financial infrastructure built as a shared industry effort. 

Why Give Away the Yield?

When it comes to stablecoins, the income from reserves is the engine behind every stablecoin. Issuers will hold the dollar collaterals that back the tokens in short term treasuries and profit the interest. A simple yet highly effective profitable business model. 

This is what OpenUSD is going after. 

When businesses join Open Standard, they will be able to mint and redeem OpenUSD without fees or volume limits and most of the income earned from the reserves will flow back to the participating businesses, minus the management fees. 

The founding CEO of Open Standard, Zach Abrams says existing stablecoins have real strengths, but also argued that businesses need a token that is open, accessible and aligns with commercial interest to use blockchain technology and stablecoins at scale. 

Abrams had previously co-founded Bridge which was acquired by Stripe in 2024. 

Market Reactions 

Announcements typically and rarely move stock prices in real time. This was an exception. Circle (the issuer of USDC) shares dropped 13% to 17% post announcement. 

The caveat here is that some of OUSD backers, like Blackrock and BNY are also core partners inside Circle’s own ecosystem, a growing indication that this new venture is pulling them onto a competing side. 

Tether and Circle were absent from this consortium, which wasn’t doubtful to say the least. They, along with PayPal (PYUSD) are the current and largest dollar stablecoin issuers in the market as of 2026. 

How OUSD Compares to USDT & USDC

Here is how OUSD compares to USDT and USDC: 

Not the First Attempt, But the Biggest

This isn’t the first time consortium led stablecoins have appeared. USDC was a joint venture between Circle and Coinbase, before it was dissolved in 2023 and Circle took full control. Coinbase’s return on OpenUSD to a shared governance model spread to more than 140+ firms instead of two. 

Paxos runs a similar model with the Global Dollar Network, which is backed by Robinhood, Kraken and Galaxy Digital, built on the same concept of sharing reserve income. 

So what sets OUSD apart? 

The sheer scale overlaps USDC’s consumer base. It overlaps with the same businesses that have previously favoured USDC, which will be an interesting observation to see how competition will migrate gradually to OUSD. 

What Comes Next for OUSD?

OpenUSD will go live later in 2026 on Stellar, Solana, Base and Polygon. Will Gaybrick, the President of Technology and Business at Stripe says that OpenUSD will become the default stablecoin for businesses using Stripe. 

Coinbase has also confirmed its support across the Base network and other chains, and Solana’s official account also confirmed the token would launch on its network from day one. 

However, none of these guarantee how OUSD will dethrone USDT or USDC anytime soon as both of them command a huge market presence. The success would come down to if the consortium of firms will route real payment flow through OUSD and not just how many of them participated in the announcement. 

The biggest shift here is structural and not competitive. 

Stablecoins are no longer just trading assets on exchanges. They are becoming the payment rails and it is the competition of who controls the economics of those rails, the reserve float, governance, fees, and scale of adoption. 

The Next Era of Global Money Movement

Echo Money is optimistic about what kind of collaboration this could mean for how money moves across borders. A new financial revolution to bring adoption of stablecoins is happening and we’re at the forefront of enabling this. 

If you’re interested to know how you can effectively send funds globally and across borders, we have similar goals and would love to have a chat!