Open USD has launched as an open-governance stablecoin backed by more than 140 financial and technology firms, aiming to replace single-issuer control with collaborative governance and shared economics.
A coalition of more than 140 financial institutions, payment providers, technology firms and crypto companies has launched Open USD, an open-governance stablecoin designed to replace single-vendor control with collaborative governance and shared economic incentives.
The consortium includes Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, BlackRock, Coinbase, Ripple, Google, IBM, Shopify and Standard Chartered, among other partners.
Unlike traditional stablecoins operated by a single issuer, Open USD will be governed by Open Standard, an independent company whose board is composed of participating partners. The model is designed to prevent any one company from controlling the network, reflecting governance principles commonly associated with open-source and open-standards ecosystems.
Open USD will offer fee-free minting and redemption at any scale, share reserve earnings with partners after management fees, and use collaborative governance to align incentives across participants.
According to the consortium, existing stablecoins are limited by high minting and redemption costs, restricted access to reserve income and dependence on third-party issuers’ product roadmaps.
Founding CEO of Open Standard, Zach Abrams, said: “Existing stablecoins have great strengths, but to use them at scale, businesses need something that’s open, low-cost, high-throughput, broadly accessible, and aligned to their interests.”
The consortium plans to launch Open USD later this year, positioning it as a test of whether an open-governance model can compete with traditional issuer-controlled stablecoins.
