Summary
Open USD (OUSD), launched by the Open Standard consortium on June 30, attacks Circle's most valuable business line — reserve income on USDC — by restructuring who captures the yield. Where USDC's model lets the issuer (Circle) earn reserve interest and share some back through distribution agreements, OUSD returns nearly all reserve revenue to distributing partners after a management fee, with zero minting fees and no volume caps. The model is built on the premise that the companies distributing stablecoins should keep most of the money generated by the reserves behind them.
Key Points
- OUSD launched June 30 by Open Standard (founding CEO Zach Abrams, Bridge co-founder; Bridge acquired by Stripe ~$1.1B, deal closed Feb 2025).
- 140+ partners: Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, BNY, Coinbase, Ripple, Google, Shopify, DoorDash.
- Economics: zero minting fees, no volume caps; most reserve revenue returned to participating companies after a management fee; reserves at major U.S. institutions under U.S. regulatory requirements.
- Launch networks named: Tempo, Solana; other chains expected; OUSD not yet live (expected later in 2026).
- Circle exposure: $652.5M reserve income in Q1 2026 = 94% of total revenue/reserve income; total other revenue only $41.6M; $77.0B USDC in circulation at end-March; $2.7B total revenue/reserve income for 2025 (up 64% YoY).
- Circle stock fell 16%+ post-announcement, traded as low as ~$63.
- CoinShares (July, via CoinDesk): OUSD is the most credible threat yet to USDC because it attacks distribution economics, not just another dollar token.
- Visa and Mastercard appearing in the same consortium is itself a signal of how large the underlying shift is.
- USDC still holds the structural advantages today: liquidity, exchange integrations, DeFi usage, corporate-treasury adoption, operating history.
- Open question: whether Circle can keep earning issuer-level margins once biggest distributors have a credible alternative.
Sources
- https://startupfortune.com/visa-stripe-and-140-partners-launch-open-usd-to-take-circles-stablecoin-revenue/
- https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2026/07/22/stablecoin-clearing-bank-ai-payments/ (related: stablecoin reserve income market context)