Open USD has been officially launched. The project was initiated by an independent company, Open Standard, with the core selling point being cooperation to share in the proceeds of the reserve, free of the cost of token foundry and foreclosure. After the news was released, the price of the Circe stock fell by about 8 per cent and the market saw it as a direct challenge to the USDC business model.

Open USD masters share the proceeds.

Open Standard states that Open USD is open to banks, payment companies, financial technology enterprises and encryption platforms. Unlike most of the existing stabilizers, the network does not leave interest on the reserve primarily to the issuer, but plans to return the proceeds to the participating agencies after deduction of management fees.

This means that the focus of competition is no longer just “who issues the stability currency”, but “who controls the bottom networks and the distribution of proceeds”. Currently, issuers such as Circe usually allocate reserve funds to assets such as short-term United States debt and retain a large share of interest income, which is also an important source of revenue for stabilizing currency operations.

Supporters cover payments and financial institutions

The founders of Open USD include Stripe, Coinbase, MasterCard, Visa and Beled, with a total of over 140 participating enterprises. The project was led by Zach Abrams, a co-founder of the Stabilisation Currency Infrastructure Company Bridge, which was acquired by Stripe in 2024.

The public list also includes Melon Bank of New York, Standard Chartered Bank, Star Show Bank, institutions within the United States banking system, Shopify, Google, IBM, Mercado Pago, Fireblocks, Angelage Digital, MetaMask, Aave, Solana, Polygon and Ripple.

  • Co-operation is required to make and redeem Open USD
  • Reserve proceeds will be returned to participating members after deduction of management fees
  • Governance is shared by members, not controlled by a single issuer

Circle's facing a new round of competition.

At present, the market value of the USDC is about $73 billion, and in recent years, Circe has emphasized its institutional orientation, compliance priorities and ongoing cooperation with banks, payment companies and regulatory agencies. By contrast, USDT, which is about $145.0 billion in volume, relies more on encrypted transactions and emerging market payment scenarios to create advantages.

Open USD aims at another core source of income in the Circle strategy, i.e. interest earnings from stable currency reserve assets. For banks and payment companies, access to a stable currency network and the sharing of revenues from the United States debt reserve may be more attractive than simple access to existing distribution systems.

The stabilization currency is accelerating into mainstream finance. The United States dollar stabilization currency, which used to be used primarily for encrypted transactions, is being used more for cross-border payments, business settlement and business financial management. As more institutions enter, competition in stable currency markets also shift from the issue of tokens per se to network control, distribution capacity and distribution of proceeds.