Open Standard pitches OUSD stablecoin with 140+ backers and shared reserve earnings
The fee-free, no-limits minting model landed as Circle shares fell over 16% to $63.63 the same day.
Open Standard unveiled Open USD (OUSD), a US dollar-pegged stablecoin project it says has more than 140 supporting companies and a design that routes reserve earnings back to participants. The announcement landed alongside a sharp same-day drop in Circle Internet Group’s stock, adding pressure to incumbent stablecoin economics before OUSD’s launch details are disclosed.
Key Takeaways
- Open Standard said more than 140 companies have signed onto its Open USD (OUSD) stablecoin project.
- Visa, Mastercard, and crypto firms including Coinbase, Ripple, OKX, and Bybit were named as supporters.
- The project promises businesses can mint OUSD “at no cost and with no artificial limits on volume,” while participants “receive all of the earnings” from reserves.
- Circle Internet Group shares fell more than 16% to $63.63 on Tuesday, the same day OUSD was announced.
Open Standard Unveils OUSD With 140+ Backers and a Reserve-Earnings Pitch
Open Standard announced a US dollar-pegged stablecoin project called Open USD (OUSD) and said more than 140 companies have signed on. The supporter list named in the announcement spans payments and crypto rails, including Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase, Ripple, OKX, and Bybit.
The core pitch is economic, not technical. Open Standard said OUSD will let businesses mint the stablecoin “at no cost and with no artificial limits on volume,” and that participants can “receive all of the earnings” from the stablecoin’s reserves. In stablecoin terms, that implies the interest generated by reserve assets is intended to flow outward to the network’s participants rather than being retained by the issuer.
Open Standard said OUSD will launch “later this year,” without providing a specific date.
Why OUSD’s “No Fees, No Limits” Minting Model Targets USDT/USDC’s Distribution Moat
USDT (Tether) and USDC (Circle) are described as the two largest stablecoins by market capitalization, and OUSD is positioned to compete directly with that top-of-stack liquidity. The attack vector is distribution incentives.
Removing minting fees and volume caps matters because it targets the onramps that large businesses care about: predictable issuance at scale and economics that do not penalize growth. Pair that with a promise that participants “receive all of the earnings” from reserves, and the model effectively tries to turn stablecoin distribution into a revenue-sharing arrangement.
Rhino.fi co-founder and CEO Will Harborne framed the intent and the tradeoff in blunt terms: “When Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, Coinbase and Google coordinate on a new stablecoin, the signal is unmistakable.” He added, “Open USD is the first launch with a real chance to win share from USDT and USDC, because reserve revenue flows back to everyone who holds it. But that same incentive is what drives fragmentation at scale.”
The macro prize is large enough to justify the fight. DefiLlama data puts the stablecoin market size at more than $312 billion, with a projection of up to $4 trillion by 2030.
Circle Reacts as Its Stock Slides: Allaire Signals Broader Stablecoin Support
Circle Internet Group’s share price dropped by more than 16% on Tuesday to $63.63. The timing lines up with the OUSD announcement, but the evidence only supports coincidence, not causality.
Still, the equity move shows traders are treating consortium-style stablecoin narratives as a potential threat to incumbent economics before the market has basic launch specifics like reserves, custody, and distribution mechanics.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire responded publicly, signaling a posture of competition without conceding the field. He said Circle welcomed “continued innovation and competition in the space,” adding, “[We] look forward to remaining laser-focused on building the best stablecoin infrastructure possible and driving more customer and partner success,” and said Circle would soon expand support for US dollar-pegged and non-US dollar stablecoins. That reads less like a single-product defense of USDC and more like an incumbent preparing to broaden its lineup.
Milestones Traders Will Need Before Repricing the Stablecoin Stack
OUSD’s announcement set the narrative, but traders will need concrete milestones before repricing stablecoin market structure.
A specific launch date beyond “later this year” is the first gating item, along with any phased rollout plan that clarifies who can mint, when, and under what constraints.
The second gating item is the reserve story. OUSD has not disclosed reserve composition, custody arrangements, or the exact mechanics for how “all of the earnings” are calculated and distributed. Those details determine whether the pitch is a clean pass-through, a variable rebate, or something more conditional.
Regulation is the third gate. The GENIUS Act payment stablecoin framework is described as signed into law last year but still awaiting finalized implementing regulations from federal authorities. Until that implementation picture is clearer, issuer structure and compliance posture remain open questions, including whether OUSD is a single-issuer model or a consortium with shared responsibilities.
Finally, Circle’s stated plan to expand support for additional US dollar-pegged and non-US dollar stablecoins will matter if it turns into product announcements and partner integrations that blunt OUSD’s distribution pitch.
The Reserve-Revenue War Is the Real Fight—But the Missing Details Matter
I don’t read OUSD’s headline promises as a guaranteed share shift yet, but the incentive design is the point. “No fees, no limits” minting plus reserve-earnings pass-through is a direct attempt to rewire who gets paid for stablecoin scale, and that is exactly where USDT/USDC’s distribution moat has historically been defended.
The threshold that matters is whether Open Standard can publish credible reserve, custody, and earnings-distribution mechanics that large businesses can underwrite under the GENIUS Act’s implementing rules. If that holds, the setup starts to look structural rather than narrative-driven, and the stablecoin stack gets repriced around who owns the reserve spread, not just who has the deepest liquidity today.
