A new dollar stablecoin, Open USD (OUSD), went live on September 30, 2026, issued by Open Standard and backed by five founding partners—Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe and Visa—which together committed more than $1 billion to the token’s liquidity, according to CoinDesk.
Background: the team and model behind OUSD
Open USD is issued by Open Standard, a company led by chief executive Zach Abrams, who previously co-founded and ran Bridge, a stablecoin-infrastructure firm that Stripe acquired for $1.1 billion in 2024, according to CoinDesk. That background helps explain the roster behind the launch: CoinDesk reported that the partner network grew from more than 140 companies at a June announcement to over 200 at launch, with earlier participants cited by PYMNTS including Visa, Google, Mastercard, Coinbase, American Express, DoorDash and Plasma, and recent additions such as UBS, Japan’s SBI Holdings and fintech Jeeves. The five founding partners — Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe and Visa — each hold an equal initial equity stake and together committed more than $1 billion to establish OUSD liquidity, bringing two card networks, a major exchange, a payments processor and a commerce platform behind a single token.
What is Open USD?
CoinDesk reported that OUSD launched across the Ethereum, Solana, Coinbase’s Base and Stripe-backed Tempo blockchains, giving it reach across several of the most active networks from day one. PYMNTS described OUSD as a money-movement stablecoin offering one-to-one U.S. dollar conversion with no minting or burning cost, charging what it called “a small, predictable transaction fee” instead of the variable conversion fees businesses often pay to move money across borders.
The pitch, according to PYMNTS, is aimed squarely at commerce and payments use cases: a dollar token that businesses can use to move value cheaply and predictably rather than one designed primarily as a trading instrument. By offering free minting and redemption and charging only a flat transaction fee, Open Standard is targeting the conversion costs that businesses face when moving money between currencies and systems.
Who is behind it?
The issuer is Open Standard, led by chief executive Zach Abrams, who previously co-founded and led Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure firm that Stripe acquired for $1.1 billion in 2024, according to CoinDesk. CoinDesk reported that the five founding partners—Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe and Visa—each hold an equal initial equity stake and together committed more than $1 billion to establish OUSD liquidity.
That lineup is notable because it brings together two of the largest card networks, a major crypto exchange, a leading payments processor and a commerce platform behind a single token, aligning each of them as both a user and an owner.
How is the model different?
Rather than keeping reserve income for itself in the way most issuers do, Open Standard uses what CoinDesk called an equity-for-usage approach: the majority of its equity is distributed to founders and network partners based on their contribution to OUSD’s growth, measured by supply generation and transaction activity above a minimum threshold, over roughly four to five years. The design is meant to give partners a direct financial stake in expanding the token’s circulation and use. Abrams was quoted by CoinDesk saying, “Every other stablecoin is building a fund. We’re building money.”
How big is the partner network?
CoinDesk reported that the partner network grew from more than 140 companies at a June announcement to over 200 at launch, with recent additions including UBS, Japan’s SBI Holdings and fintech Jeeves. PYMNTS noted that earlier participants cited at the June announcement included Visa, Google, Mastercard, Coinbase, American Express, DoorDash and Plasma. The expansion of the roster between the announcement and the launch is the kind of adoption signal the equity-for-usage model is designed to encourage.
Why does it matter?
OUSD enters a market CoinDesk sized at more than $300 billion and dominated by Tether’s USDT, which it put at about $143 billion, and Circle’s USDC, at about $74 billion. The involvement of large payments and commerce companies as equity-aligned partners is the defining feature of the launch, aimed at reducing cross-border conversion costs for businesses. Whether that structure can translate into meaningful scale against entrenched incumbents remains to be seen.
What comes next?
With the token live across four chains and backed by a growing roster of partners, attention turns to how quickly OUSD can build circulating supply and transaction volume. CoinDesk framed the equity-for-usage design as an incentive for partners to drive adoption, though the token’s traction will only become clear over time and was not quantified at launch beyond the liquidity commitment. The launch also lands amid a broader wave of new stablecoin entrants in 2026, which means OUSD will be competing for merchant and platform adoption at the same time as several other well-funded projects.
Why it matters
The defining feature of the launch is the equity-for-usage model. Rather than keeping reserve income for itself in the way most issuers do, CoinDesk reported that Open Standard distributes the majority of its equity to founders and network partners based on how much they contribute to OUSD’s growth — measured by supply generation and transaction activity above a minimum threshold — over roughly four to five years. That design gives partners a direct financial stake in expanding the token’s circulation and use, which is why Abrams told CoinDesk, “Every other stablecoin is building a fund. We’re building money.” For businesses, PYMNTS reported the pitch is free minting and redemption with “a small, predictable transaction fee” in place of the variable conversion costs of moving money across currencies and systems — aiming OUSD at commerce and payments rather than trading.
What to watch next
With OUSD live from September 30, 2026 across Ethereum, Solana, Coinbase’s Base and the Stripe-backed Tempo chain, the concrete things to watch are whether the partner roster keeps expanding beyond 200 and how quickly the token builds circulating supply and transaction volume — the two metrics its equity-for-usage model is explicitly designed to reward over the next four to five years. CoinDesk noted the launch was not quantified beyond the $1 billion-plus liquidity commitment, so day-one supply and usage figures will be the first real test. OUSD also enters amid a wave of new stablecoin entrants in 2026 and faces entrenched incumbents — Tether’s USDT at about $143 billion and Circle’s USDC at about $74 billion in a market above $300 billion — so its traction against those leaders will only become clear over time, and nothing in the reporting projects a specific outcome.
Sources
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Elena Petrova is STnews's Regulation Correspondent, reporting on MiCA, SEC and CFTC actions, the FATF travel rule and AML/KYC developments across digital-asset markets. Her coverage adheres to STnews's editorial standards — primary-sourced, cited, and non-advisory.
Conflicts of interest
I have no current legal practice or retainer relationships with any cryptocurrency company. Past employment relationships are listed publicly.
