CryptoSlate
Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase have joined Open Standard's Open USD stablecoin as launch partners, alongside 140 other businesses, in a coordinated push that reframes the stablecoin contest from trust and compliance into an open fight over who gets paid to hold and route the next digital dollar.
Open USD lets partner businesses mint and redeem for free at unlimited volume, with reserve earnings from short-term Treasuries flowing back to those partners net of a management fee. The model is built to scale: at a 3.7% yield on reserves, every $1 billion of Open USD in circulation would generate roughly $37 million a year in gross reserve income, rising to $925 million at $25 billion of supply. Native launches are planned on Plasma and Tempo later this year.
Why it matters
The design hands partner firms the same playbook Circle runs with Coinbase on USDC, only with a far wider distribution list from day one. Each partner can convert its share of reserve income into DeFi liquidity mining, boosted lending rates on Open USD collateral, wallet cashback, or bridge rebates. That keeps Open USD inside the GENIUS Act's bar on issuers paying yield directly to holders while still letting affiliates and third parties compete on incentives.
Partners already named include Aave, Morpho, MetaMask, and Trust Wallet, alongside the card networks. DeFi commentator Ignas argued the economic upside of USDC's adoption flowed to Circle, Coinbase, and distribution partners rather than the crypto-native users who built its liquidity, a pattern Open USD is explicitly designed to reroute.
Market impact
The size of the prize makes the gray zone worth fighting over. DeFiLlama puts total stablecoin supply near $312 billion, with USDT at about $184.6 billion and USDC around $73.9 billion. Citi's base case for 2030 is $1.9 trillion in stablecoin supply, with a $4 trillion bull case. Circle's first-quarter 2026 results show the incumbents already running the playbook: $653 million in reserve income against $407 million in distribution and transaction costs, with the cost line lifted by higher payments to partners.
Markets read the announcement as a direct hit.
Frequently asked questions
-
What is Open USD and how does it differ from USDC or USDT?
Open USD is a new stablecoin from Open Standard that lets partner businesses mint and redeem for free at unlimited volume, with reserve earnings on short-term Treasuries flowing back to those partners net of a management fee, rather than concentrating the upside with the issuer and a small group of distribution…
-
How much reserve income could Open USD generate?
At a 3.7% yield on reserves, every $1 billion in circulation would generate roughly $37 million a year in gross reserve income, scaling to $925 million at $25 billion of supply, according to the source article.
-
Who are the launch partners for Open USD?
The launch partner list already includes Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase, alongside more than 140 other businesses, with DeFi and wallet names such as Aave, Morpho, MetaMask, and Trust Wallet also named.
-
How does Open USD navigate the GENIUS Act's ban on paying yield to holders?
The GENIUS Act bars stablecoin issuers from paying interest directly to holders, but leaves room for affiliates and third parties to offer rewards. Open USD routes reserve income to partner businesses, which can then pass it on as DeFi liquidity mining, lending boosts, or wallet cashback.
-
Why did Circle shares drop after the Open USD announcement?
Circle shares fell as much as 17% intraday on the day of the announcement, touching a low near $63, as investors priced in a direct hit to the reserve income engine Circle's $653 million Q1 2026 result ran on, with a far wider partner list now building incentives around a competing stablecoin.
TheBlock
Crypto News
CoinDesk
Altcoin Daily
CoinTelegraph
WuBlockchain