Open USD has launched on four blockchains with more than $1 billion in liquidity commitments from five founding partners, introducing a stablecoin model that ties company rewards and ownership to token supply and use.
Summary
- Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe and Visa have committed more than $1 billion to support OUSD liquidity.
- Ethereum, Solana, Base and Tempo are the stablecoin’s first four networks.
- Founding partners receive equal initial equity stakes, with future ownership tied to contributions.
- More than 200 companies now form the network seeking to integrate OUSD.
According to a report, Open Standard’s dollar stablecoin went live on Wednesday, citing an interview with CEO Zach Abrams, who said its five founding partners would help establish liquidity over the coming months.
Under the arrangements described by Abrams, the companies could hold OUSD on their balance sheets, keep tokens on blockchains, or support market-making. He said each partner would contribute through the activities best suited to its business.
The commitments cover future liquidity support, while the five companies have also invested in Open Standard and received equal initial equity stakes, according to the CEO.
Open USD links partner rewards to supply and transactions
In explaining the payment uses behind the launch, Abrams listed banking, cross-border transfers, card settlement, institutional trading and lending as markets Open Standard wants to serve.
“We want to be the most useful stablecoin, the same way the U.S. dollar is useful,” he said.
Rather than granting founders a separate revenue entitlement, Open Standard will reward them for the OUSD supply they generate under the same framework available to other partners, Abrams said.
The CEO also outlined plans to distribute much of the company’s equity over the next four to five years. Founders and other network participants would receive ownership based on their contributions to the token’s growth.
Partners meeting a minimum threshold could earn equity through a combination of supply and transaction activity, according to Abrams. His description gives companies credit for moving OUSD as well as bringing tokens into circulation.
“The overwhelming majority of our cap table is going to be distributed back to founders and non-founders based on how they help grow the network,” he said.
On its website, Open Standard says it will share nearly all reserve revenue with companies that help increase adoption. The issuer also lists fee-free minting and redemption among OUSD’s features.
In a separate interview, Tempo chief business officer Dan Romero said removing minting and burning charges could reduce costs for businesses moving large sums between conventional dollars and stablecoins.
Five founders hold equity as the network passes 200 companies
Although Open Standard introduced its project with more than 140 partners in June, Abrams said that only Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe and Visa currently hold investments in the company.
The CEO rejected descriptions of Open Standard as a consortium run by hundreds of participants. Management makes operating decisions, he said, while a smaller founding group has ownership and governance roles.
As crypto.news previously reported on July 1, the initial Open USD announcement described a token scheduled to enter circulation later in the year, with partner access to reserve earnings after operating costs.
Abrams now expects the founding group to expand to about 10 to 12 companies, with a board of directors drawn from the founders. Separately, he said the network seeking to integrate OUSD has grown beyond 200 businesses.
Japan’s SBI Holdings, Swiss bank UBS and fintech Jeeves are among the latest additions, according to the CEO. BlackRock, BNY and Standard Chartered appeared in the network announced in June.
Participation discussions have also continued outside the founding group. On Aug. 28, Dunamu, the operator of South Korean exchange Upbit, announced a Visa partnership covering stablecoin payments, international remittances and financial services using artificial intelligence.
The companies said they would evaluate OUSD business models as part of that work. Dunamu had previously described its involvement with Open Standard as a proposal under review, rather than an agreement to issue the token.
Circle investors have faced questions over distribution costs
According to the launch report, OUSD is entering a stablecoin market worth more than $300 billion, with Tether’s USDT accounting for about $143 billion and Circle’s USDC roughly $74 billion.
The report described reserve income as a central part of competition between issuers. Tether retains much of the interest earned on its backing assets, while Circle shares part of USDC reserve revenue with distributors, including Coinbase.
For investors in U.S.-listed Circle, earlier analyst coverage connected Open USD directly to the amount of reserve income Circle could retain.
On July 15, Mizuho cut Circle’s price target from $85 to $50 and downgraded the stock from Neutral to Underperform, citing competition from Open USD. Analysts led by Dan Dolev warned that the new model could change the economics of distributing stablecoins.
In the same assessment, Mizuho raised its estimate for Circle’s 2027 distribution and transaction expense ratio from 64% to 73%. The bank also reduced its adjusted EBITDA forecast from $1.09 billion to $699 million.
The launch report noted that Coinbase, Visa and Mastercard remain important USDC partners despite supporting OUSD. Analysts cited in its earlier coverage questioned whether backing Open Standard necessarily meant those companies would reduce their support for Circle’s token.
Tempo targets OUSD liquidity while other currencies draw interest
With OUSD available on Ethereum, Solana, Coinbase’s Base and Stripe-backed Tempo, Romero said that Tempo intends to compete for the largest pool of the token’s liquidity.
He projected roughly $1 billion of OUSD on Tempo within the next few months, more than $10 billion during 2027 and potentially over $100 billion in the following years. The figures represent Romero’s expectations for Tempo, rather than balances confirmed at launch.
For Open Standard, Abrams described card settlement, foreign exchange and cross-border payments as opportunities beyond competing for existing USDT and USDC users. He said stablecoins could allow money to move faster and more often than through traditional banking systems.
The CEO also said that network participants are already requesting stablecoins denominated in other currencies.
Before leading Open Standard, Abrams co-founded and ran Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure company acquired by Stripe in a $1.1 billion deal. According to a report, Bridge recently issued a euro-backed token for Revolut.
According to Abrams, Open Standard’s decisions about additional currencies will depend on demand from companies in its network.
