CoinDesk
Circle shares fell as much as 8% in Tuesday morning trading after Open Standard, an independent company backed by Stripe, Coinbase, Mastercard, Visa and BlackRock, unveiled Open USD, a new stablecoin designed to challenge incumbent issuers including USDC. The consortium includes more than 140 partners spanning payments, banking, fintech and crypto, with the project led by Zach Abrams, co-founder of Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure firm Stripe acquired in 2024.
Why it matters
Open USD targets the structural economics of stablecoin issuance rather than competing on token distribution. The platform lets partners mint and redeem without fees while returning reserve income earned on the underlying U.S. Treasuries, less a management fee, to participating businesses. Issuers like Circle have historically retained the bulk of that interest yield, and it has become the central revenue line for the business. Open Standard frames governance as shared among members rather than controlled by a single issuer, echoing the Global Dollar Network model that Paxos runs with Robinhood, Kraken and Galaxy Digital.
Market impact
Circle's USDC sits at roughly $73 billion in circulation, positioning the firm as the regulated institutional stablecoin; Tether's USDT, near $145 billion, dominates via trading and emerging-market flows. Citi has projected the broader stablecoin market to grow from more than $300 billion today to $4 trillion by 2030, and competition is migrating from token issuance to who controls the underlying network. Beyond the headline backers, Open Standard's launch roster includes BNY, Standard Chartered, DBS, U.S. Bank, Shopify, Google, IBM, Mercado Pago, Fireblocks, Anchorage Digital, MetaMask, Aave, Solana, Polygon and Ripple. For Circle, the question becomes whether the consortium can move from launch announcement to actual token distribution at the scale USDC has spent years building.
Frequently asked questions
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What is Open USD and who is backing it?
Open USD is a new stablecoin launched by Open Standard, an independent company whose founding partners include Stripe, Coinbase, Mastercard, Visa and BlackRock alongside more than 140 payments, banking, fintech and crypto firms.
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Why did Circle's stock drop 8%?
Circle shares fell as much as 8% in Tuesday morning trading as investors weighed whether a 140-partner rival stablecoin network could erode USDC's institutional position.
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How does Open USD differ from USDC?
Open USD lets partners mint and redeem tokens without fees and shares reserve income earned on U.S. Treasuries with participating businesses. USDC's issuer retains the bulk of that interest yield.
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How big is the stablecoin market today?
USDC sits at roughly $73 billion in circulation and Tether's USDT at about $145 billion. Citi has projected the broader stablecoin market could grow from more than $300 billion today to $4 trillion by 2030.
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Who is leading the Open USD project?
The initiative is led by Zach Abrams, co-founder of Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure firm Stripe acquired in 2024.
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