140+ Firms Back Yield-Sharing Stablecoin as Market Competition Intensifies
Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Coinbase, and more than 140 additional companies announced the launch of Open USD (OUSD) on June 30, a dollar-pegged stablecoin that distributes reserve yield to network participants instead of concentrating profits at a single issuer.
The coalition includes major payment networks American Express and Discover, asset manager BlackRock, banks including U.S. Bank, Standard Chartered, and BNY, and crypto firms including Ripple, MetaMask, Aave, Bybit, OKX, Galaxy Digital, Fireblocks, and Anchorage Digital. Stripe, which acquired Bridge in 2024, leads development alongside Zach Abrams, co-founder of Bridge and project lead for Open USD.
Open USD charges no minting fees, no redemption fees, and no volume limits. Treasury income generated by reserve holdings flows to network participants after Open Standard, the independent organization managing the stablecoin, deducts a management fee. Circle and Tether, which currently issue USDC and USDT respectively, retain all yield from their reserve holdings in short-term U.S. Treasuries.
“Existing stablecoins have great strengths,” Abrams said. “But to use them at scale, businesses need something that’s open, low-cost, high-throughput, broadly accessible, and aligned to their interests.”
Circle’s share price declined 15% on Tuesday following the announcement. USDC holds a $73 billion market cap, while USDT commands $145 billion. The broader stablecoin market is valued at approximately $300 billion.
Cuy Sheffield, Visa’s head of crypto, framed the effort as a structural shift in stablecoin governance. “Today, we announced Visa is joining Open Standard alongside Stripe, Coinbase, Mastercard, American Express, BlackRock, U.S. Bank, BBVA, Standard Chartered and 100-plus initial partners with the mission of issuing Open USD,” Sheffield said.
Open USD is expected to launch later in 2026 on Solana, Stellar, Base, and Polygon. Decision-making authority will be shared among partner companies rather than held by a single issuer, distinguishing Open USD’s governance model from existing competitors.
The stablecoin sector has expanded beyond crypto trading into cross-border payments, merchant settlements, and corporate treasury operations. Consultancy Citi projects the global stablecoin market will reach $4 trillion by 2030.
Paxos, which issues PAX Dollar, leads the competing Global Dollar Network (USDG) on a similar yield-sharing principle. Separately, Qivalis, a euro-denominated stablecoin consortium, counts 37 European banks and payment providers among its backers.
Governance and Reserve Structure
Open Standard will operate as an independent entity with shared governance among coalition members. The model contrasts sharply with Circle and Tether, both of which function as centralized issuers with unilateral control over reserve deployment and yield allocation.
Open USD did not specify the exact percentage of reserve yield retained as a management fee by Open Standard, nor did the announcement detail technical specifications such as reserve backing composition or smart contract audit status.
