Open USD stablecoin launched by Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase and 140+ firms

A consortium of more than 140 companies—including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, Coinbase, Google, Shopify and others—announced the creation of a new dollar‑pegged stablecoin called Open USD (OUSD). The initiative is organized under the independent entity Open Standard, whose board is composed of the participating firms. OUSD will be issued later in 2026 on multiple blockchains and will allow businesses to mint and redeem the token without fees or volume limits. Unlike existing stablecoins, the majority of the interest earned on the reserves backing OUSD will be shared with the consortium members after a small management fee.

The launch triggered a sharp reaction in the market. Circle’s shares, the issuer of the rival USDC stablecoin, fell between 13% and 16% on the day of the announcement, reflecting investor concerns about the competitive pressure from an openly governed stablecoin. The news also lifted the price of Stellar’s native token, which saw a roughly 10% rise after Stellar was named a launch partner for Open USD.

Open USD is positioned as an “open, low‑cost, high‑throughput” alternative to the dominant stablecoins Tether (USDT) and USDC, aiming to become a core infrastructure for global digital payments.