Open USD | Stripe Visa 140+ Firm Stablecoin Alliance Challenges Tether

NEW YORK | The battle for the future of digital money just shifted from a skirmish between crypto-native firms into a full-scale institutional war.

In one of the broadest corporate alliances ever assembled around blockchain technology, over 140 financial and technology heavyweights have banded together to launch a new U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin. Spearheaded by industry titans like Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, BNY Mellon, BlackRock, and Coinbase, the newly formed venture, dubbed Open Standard, is preparing to issue its own token, Open USD (OUSD), later this year.

The move is a direct, highly calculated threat to the current stablecoin market leaders, Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC). Rather than competing as a single corporate issuer, Open Standard is wielding the collective distribution power of global banks, payment networks, and massive fintechs to redefine how digital dollars move across the internet.

The initiative will be led on an interim basis by Zach Abrams, the co-founder and CEO of Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure startup acquired by Stripe in 2024 for $1.1 billion. According to Abrams, the consortium was born out of a desperate need for a more aligned, scalable financial infrastructure. "Existing stablecoins have great strengths, but to use them at scale, businesses need something that is open, low-cost, high-throughput, broadly accessible, and aligned to their interests," he stated.

Shared Economics | The Business Model That Inverts the Stablecoin Playbook

The true weapon Open USD holds is not just its massive network of backers, it is the underlying business model. Historically, dominant stablecoin issuers like Tether and Circle have profited massively by holding user deposits in interest-bearing assets like U.S. Treasuries and keeping the generated yield for themselves. Open Standard is completely inverting this playbook.

Open Standard plans to share the earnings from its reserves directly with its partners, minus a small operational management fee. Furthermore, the consortium has promised that businesses will be able to mint and redeem Open USD at no cost and with zero volume limits. By decentralizing the profits and turning the stablecoin into a shared public utility for its partners, Open Standard destroys the exact moat that companies like Circle rely on for revenue.

BNY Mellon's chief product and innovation officer, Carolyn Weinberg, noted that this blend of "neutral governance and shared economics" is the key to unlocking the next massive phase of digital asset growth. The PYMNTS analysis of Open USD describes the initiative as turning the stablecoin race into an ecosystem battle where no single issuer controls the full value chain.

Market Fallout | Circle Stock Craters as Coinbase Hedges Bets

The market reaction to the Open USD announcement was swift and brutal for incumbents. Shares of Circle (NYSE: CRCL) plummeted roughly 13% on the news, hitting their weakest levels since early 2026. The selloff erased approximately $2 billion in market capitalization within hours of the announcement, according to Seeking Alpha.

The inclusion of Coinbase in the Open Standard coalition is particularly striking. Coinbase currently earns a massive share of USDC's reserve revenue through its deep partnership with Circle, netting the exchange hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Coinbase's willingness to simultaneously back a direct competitor signals that the industry is hedging its bets on shared-yield models and that even Circle's closest allies see the writing on the wall.

While Tether's stronghold in emerging markets and offshore liquidity, primarily on the Tron network, may insulate it in the short term, Circle's compliant U.S.-regulated model is now squarely in the crosshairs. With Stripe already announcing that Open USD will become the default stablecoin for businesses running on its platform, the days of a two-token monopoly are officially numbered.

The Open Standard Consortium | Who Is In and What It Means

The Open Standard consortium is notable not just for its size but for the diversity of its membership. Over 140 companies spanning payments, banking, asset management, technology, and crypto infrastructure have signed on as founding participants. The breadth of the coalition makes Open USD the most broadly endorsed stablecoin initiative in history, backed by institutions that collectively handle trillions of dollars in daily payment volume.

The consortium's governance model is designed to prevent any single participant from controlling the network. Open Standard will operate as an independent entity with a rotating board drawn from member firms, ensuring that no one company, not even Stripe or Visa, can unilaterally change the rules. This structure is intended to address a key criticism of both USDC and USDT, which are governed by their respective issuers and can be frozen or blacklisted at the issuer's discretion.

The Snowflake data breach that exposed 165 companies earlier this month underscored the security risks inherent in centralized financial infrastructure. Open Standard's distributed governance model is partly a response to the growing recognition that stablecoin infrastructure must be resilient against both cyber attacks and single points of political or corporate failure.

Regulatory Implications | A Stablecoin Built for Compliance

Open Standard's launch comes as the regulatory landscape for stablecoins in the United States is rapidly crystallizing. The Open USD token is designed from the ground up to comply with the stablecoin provisions of the Lummis-Gillibrand Payment Stablecoin Act, which requires full reserve backing, monthly attestations, and anti-money laundering controls. Every member of the consortium has committed to meeting or exceeding these requirements.

This compliance-first approach gives Open Standard a significant advantage over Tether, which has faced repeated regulatory scrutiny over the composition of its reserves and its history of opaque financial disclosures. By building a regulatory-compliant infrastructure from day one, Open Standard positions itself as the stablecoin that regulators, lawmakers, and institutional treasurers can trust without reservation.

Frequently Asked Questions