WuBlockchain
Open Standard unveiled Open USD (OUSD), a stablecoin built for global payments and settlement, with more than 140 companies joining the ecosystem. The roster reads like a who's-who of payments, markets and crypto infrastructure: Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, BlackRock, BNY, Coinbase, Ripple, Google, Shopify, Bybit, OKX and Solana.
Why it matters
OUSD will run on a consortium-governance model, letting partners share reserve earnings after a small management fee and vote on protocol direction rather than ceding control to a single issuer. Minting and redemption will carry no fees and no artificial issuance caps, with Zach Abrams, co-founder and CEO of Stripe-owned Bridge, installed as Open Standard's founding CEO. Launch is slated for later this year.
Market impact
The line-up is the story. A stablecoin with Visa, Mastercard and Stripe on the issuer side, BlackRock and BNY on the reserve side, and Coinbase, Ripple and Solana on the rails is structurally different from a single-fiat-backed token. If OUSD ships on schedule and the governance model holds, it sets a template other consortia will copy, and it gives TradFi a native on-chain settlement asset without taking direct issuer risk.
Frequently asked questions
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What is OUSD and who is behind it?
OUSD is a new stablecoin for global payments and settlement launched by Open Standard, with more than 140 companies in the ecosystem including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, BNY, Coinbase, Ripple, Google, Shopify and Solana.
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How is OUSD governed differently from existing stablecoins?
OUSD uses a consortium-governance model. Partners share reserve earnings after a small management fee and participate in protocol decisions, rather than control sitting with a single issuer.
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What are the minting and redemption terms for OUSD?
OUSD supports zero-fee minting and redemption with no artificial issuance caps, and is expected to go live later this year.
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Who is leading Open Standard?
Zach Abrams, co-founder and CEO of Stripe-owned Bridge, has been named Open Standard's founding CEO.
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Why does the consortium line-up matter for the market?
With payments (Visa, Mastercard, Stripe), asset management (BlackRock, BNY) and crypto rails (Coinbase, Ripple, Solana) on a single cap table, OUSD could become a structural settlement layer that TradFi adopts without taking direct issuer risk.
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