Open USD (OUSD) — A Heavyweight New Player Enters the Stablecoin Arena

Bifu Research | 2026

Abstract

Recently, Open USD (OUSD), a brand-new US dollar-pegged stablecoin spearheaded by the independent entity Open Standard, officially made its debut. Unlike traditional stablecoins born within the crypto-native community, OUSD enters the market backed by over 140 traditional finance and tech giants (including Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock, and Coinbase), instantly igniting the capital markets. Following this announcement, the stock price of stablecoin giant Circle (CRCL) plummeted by over 16% in a single day, while Coinbase's pivotal position in this alliance has sparked intense market interest regarding its strategic pivot.

I. OUSD Overview

Open USD (Ticker: OUSD) is a newly minted USD-pegged stablecoin governed and operated by Open Standard, an independent company founded by CEO Zach Abrams. The core positioning of OUSD transcends being merely a digital asset; it is designed as an "Open Infrastructure" for finance.

On the regulatory and compliance front, OUSD emphasizes that its underlying reserve assets are custodied by major financial institutions, strictly adhering to the foundational compliance frameworks established by enacted US regulations (such as the GENIUS Act). More critically, OUSD's commercial model of "reserve yield sharing" aligns perfectly with the regulatory trajectory of the CLARITY Act, currently advancing through the US Congress, regarding stablecoin ecosystem rewards and yield distribution. This indicates that from its inception, the project has forward-lookingly factored in the latest evolution of US digital asset legislation. This approach aims to provide an enterprise-grade, compliant, trustworthy, and policy-resilient fiat digitalization layer for corporate users, traditional banks, and fintech companies. Technologically, official sources confirmed that OUSD will natively launch on the Solana blockchain on day one, catering to the demands of high-frequency, large-scale global financial settlements.

In contrast to the single-issuer dominance of USDC and USDT (Circle and Tether, respectively), OUSD seeks to transform stablecoins from a "monetization tool for a single entity" into a "public infrastructure for the industry."

II. A Star-Studded Ecosystem of Partners

The most market-arresting aspect of OUSD is its "all-star" lineup of ecosystem participants. To date, over 140 enterprises have signed on as Open USD partners, spanning traditional payments, asset management, cloud computing, and the crypto sector:

• Payment Giants: Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, American Express
• Asset Management & Banking: BlackRock, BNY Mellon, Standard Chartered, OCBC, DBS
• Tech & Infrastructure: Alphabet (Google Cloud), IBM, Shopify, DoorDash
• Crypto & Web3 Natives: Coinbase, Ripple, Fireblocks, OKX, Bybit

Notably absent from this partnership roster are the incumbent stablecoin Big Three: Circle, Tether, and PayPal. This "exclusive" alliance clearly delineates a major confrontation: "The Challenger Coalition vs. The Traditional Monopoly Issuers."

III. A Disruptive Operational Model

Even prior to the release of a technical whitepaper, the commercial model disclosed by Open Standard represents a paradigm shift capable of dismantling the current stablecoin landscape. Its core mechanics can be summarized in three key points:

Reserve Yield Sharing

This is OUSD's most disruptive innovation. Over the past decade, the stablecoin business model has been "winner-takes-all" for the issuer—users hold the stablecoin, while the issuer (like Circle or Tether) invests the users' USD into low-risk assets like Treasuries, exclusively reaping the massive float income generated by tens of billions in reserves. OUSD upends this model: after deducting a modest management fee, OUSD distributes nearly all reserve yields to the participating enterprises that drive OUSD's adoption and distribution. This mechanism transforms stablecoin promotion from a "sales effort" into "ecosystem co-building," heavily incentivizing exchanges, wallets, and payment networks to aggressively market OUSD.

Zero Minting and Redemption Fees

For enterprise-level users, the cost of large-scale capital onboarding and offboarding is a primary consideration. Open Standard pledges that OUSD minting and redemption will be entirely free and cap-less, even at massive scales. This completely eliminates the friction for large institutional capital entry, making it an ideal settlement rail for B2B transactions.

Neutral and Open Governance

OUSD is governed collectively by the companies that adopt it, based on shared interests, rather than being controlled by a single commercial entity. This open-source governance logic—akin to foundational internet standards—mitigates the concerns of large financial institutions (such as banks and payment gateways) about building their core operations on a competitor's platform. Furthermore, OUSD is specifically optimized for AI Agent application scenarios, enabling round-the-clock, programmable, and instantaneous settlements by AI software agents.

IV. Impact on the Industry and Tech Giants

The advent of OUSD is not just the addition of a new trading pair; it is fundamentally reshaping the competitive moats of the entire industry:

Direct Impact on Circle (USDC) and Tether (USDT)

On the day of OUSD's launch, Circle's stock plunged by over 16% (dropping to approximately \$62), reflecting capital market panic. Currently, the most severe test facing Circle is its distribution agreement with Coinbase (which will hit its first critical renewal milestone in August 2026). Data shows that Circle paid Coinbase nearly \$900 million in 2024 for USDC distribution. Now, Coinbase has pivoted to join the OUSD camp with its "yield sharing" mechanism. This not only erodes USDC's distribution moat but also provides Coinbase with immense leverage in the upcoming renewal negotiations. For Tether, although it holds an absolute liquidity moat in crypto trading pairs, OUSD will emerge as an extremely threatening competitor in enterprise payments and compliance markets.

Coinbase's Strategic Upgrade

Coinbase's participation in OUSD marks a major elevation in its role within the stablecoin chess game. By supporting OUSD, Coinbase can simultaneously capture the reserve yields fed back by the OUSD ecosystem and apply pressure to its previous singular reliance on USDC, thereby maximizing its own interests. This also explains the underlying logic of Coinbase's high stock volatility during this event—the market is fundamentally re-evaluating its asset management and stablecoin distribution revenue streams.

Escalation of Stablecoin Competition

OUSD shifts the question from "Which stablecoin will win?" to "Which network will become the default financial infrastructure for the global digital dollar?". In the future stablecoin race, the moat will no longer be mere liquidity, but rather who can tether the most payment gateways (Stripe), card networks (Visa/Mastercard), and real-world applications (Shopify/DoorDash) to their own chariot of shared interests.

V. Conclusion

By leveraging the potent weapon of "yield sharing," Open USD (OUSD) has successfully attracted a super-syndicate of traditional finance and tech giants, potentially ending the era where a single crypto-native enterprise monopolized stablecoin seigniorage.

As a forward-looking industry observer and participant, Bifu will continue to closely monitor OUSD's official launch date and the latest industry dynamics. Adhering to our core principle of user responsibility, and under the strict premise of ensuring user fund security and transaction convenience, we will actively integrate into the OUSD ecosystem. We will steadily advance the deep integration and application support of its underlying network, ensuring our users can be among the first to experience and benefit from this brand-new, open financial infrastructure.

Disclaimer

This report is prepared by Bifu Research for informational purposes only and does not constitute any investment advice, legal opinion, or endorsement of specific assets. The digital asset market is highly volatile and risky; past performance is not indicative of future returns. Users should fully evaluate risks and consult professional advisors before making any investments.

The policy analysis and forward-looking interpretations contained in this report are based on the regulatory environment and legislative dynamics (including pending bills) as of the date of publication. As the global regulatory framework for digital assets is still rapidly evolving, the final texts of relevant legislation and actual implementation guidelines may differ materially from current expectations. This report should not be construed as a definitive judgment on the future compliance environment. For specific compliance requirements, please strictly refer to the final enacted legal texts issued by regulatory authorities in relevant jurisdictions. Bifu and its affiliates assume no legal liability for any business or investment decisions made in reliance on the contents of this report.