Open Standard announced the stablecoin OUSD on June 30, positioning it as a financial infrastructure tool for the global internet economy. The project is scheduled to launch later this year, featuring zero-fee subscriptions and redemptions, reserve yield distribution, and collaborative governance by partners.
Three Core Design Elements
Open Standard believes that although existing mainstream stablecoins have achieved scale, their fee structures and revenue distribution models limit broader enterprise adoption. To address this, OUSD offers a solution that includes zero-fee minting and redemption, distributing reserve earnings to contributors, and shared governance among partners.
- Minting and redemption are free of charge.
- Reserve earnings are distributed to contributors.
- Governance involves collaborative participation from partners.
Company founder and CEO Zach Abrams stated that businesses seeking to adopt stablecoins at scale require open, low-cost, high-throughput infrastructure with aligned incentives. Public information shows that Abrams is currently also the CEO of Bridge, Stripe’s stablecoin payments platform.
Partners include payment and technology companies.
Open Standard reports that over 140 partners support OUSD. The institutions mentioned include BlackRock, Visa, Stripe, PayPal, Western Union, Google, and Shopify.
Samara Cohen, Head of Global Market Development at BlackRock, said that stablecoins can play a role in the evolution of digital markets when supported by trusted infrastructure and real-world applications. She noted that Open USD provides businesses with additional options for accessing tokenized value and internet-native payment networks.
Based on current disclosures, Open Standard’s public information remains limited, with no detailed explanation yet provided on reserve asset structure, issuance scale, compliance arrangements, or specific listing timeline, beyond its vision and list of partners.
Circle's stock price once fell 13%.
After the announcement, the market quickly viewed it as a potential challenge to the existing stablecoin landscape. The report noted that Circle's stock price fell 13% to $65.50 within hours of the announcement.
Subsequently, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire publicly responded that the company welcomes ongoing innovation and competition in the industry. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino also welcomed the Open Standard, while making a subtle comment about Circle.
Currently, USDT and USDC remain the two core products in the stablecoin market. According to data cited from DefiLlama, both Tether and Circle are generating annual revenues in the billions of dollars. If OUSD is subsequently implemented according to its planned model, its zero-fee subscription and redemption mechanism, along with its yield distribution system, could directly impact the key revenue streams of existing issuers.