Open Standard has launched the OUSD stablecoin with Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe, and Visa as founding partners.
According to the announcement, its founding partners, Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe, and Visa, have committed more than USD 1 billion to seed initial liquidity. Each received an equal initial equity stake in Open Standard.
Reports differ on how large the consortium is. Bloomberg reported more than 100 member companies, including Visa, Google, and BlackRock. Open Standard puts its partner count at over 200 financial institutions, fintechs, banks, and businesses.
Issuance, reserves, and network support
OUSD is issued by Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure company Stripe acquired for USD 1.1 billion in 2024. Reserves are held at BlackRock, Lead Bank, and BNY. Bridge has said it will publish reserve attestations monthly.
The token runs natively on four blockchains: Base, Ethereum, Solana, and Tempo. At launch, it trades on Coinbase, Kraken, and Uniswap. From launch day, businesses can mint and redeem OUSD 1:1 against the US dollar at no cost through BVNK, which is owned by Mastercard, as well as through Stripe and the Visa Stablecoin Platform. Access through Coinbase begins on 1 October 2026. Open Standard generates revenue through a small transaction fee rather than mint or redemption charges.
Stripe has integrated OUSD across several products. Businesses can hold the stablecoin in Stripe Treasury, spend it through stablecoin cards issued via Stripe Issuing, and send it to crypto wallets in more than 100 countries. The company also said OUSD will become the company's default stablecoin for businesses. In addition, executives at Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase have said they remain committed to supporting multiple stablecoins, including USDC, so the arrangement is not exclusive.
A distribution model built around partners
In established stablecoin models, the issuer typically keeps most of the economics, mainly the yield on reserves, and distribution partners negotiate for a share. Open Standard reverses this: partners earn rewards in proportion to the supply and activity they drive on their platforms and can also earn equity in the company. Open Standard's CEO told CoinDesk that the 'overwhelming majority' of the company's equity will be distributed to partners over time, based on their contribution to the coin's growth.
The structure resembles how the card networks grew. Visa operated as a member-owned association of banks until its IPO in 2008, and Mastercard followed a similar path before going public in 2006. In both cases, the institutions that distributed the product also held a stake in the network.
Market context and open questions
OUSD enters a concentrated market. Total stablecoin supply stood at roughly USD 308 billion in August 2026, according to Spark's tracker of DefiLlama data. Tether's USDT held about 59% of that supply and Circle's USDC about 23%, so the two together account for more than 80% of the market.
Potential use cases include cross-border payouts to creators, affiliates, and freelancers, loyalty and rewards settlement in a dollar-denominated token, and commerce flows through platforms such as Shopify.
Several questions remain unanswered. Open Standard has not disclosed how supply will be distributed across the four supported chains, and early circulating supply will be the first measurable sign of adoption. Because the partners support multiple stablecoins, OUSD will also compete for placement within its own coalition. Its progress will likely depend on how actively those partners integrate it into their products.
