More than 140 financial institutions, card networks, fintechs, and crypto firms unveiled Open USD on June 30, 2026, a dollar-backed stablecoin governed collectively by its partners. Backers include Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Adyen, BNY, BlackRock, and Coinbase. What sets it apart is political, not technical: existing stablecoins each answer to a single issuer. The consortium wants to turn the stablecoin from a proprietary product into shared settlement infrastructure, run much like a payment scheme.
It ranks among the most significant payments announcements of the year. The token is run by Open Standard, an independent company led, at least in the interim, by Zach Abrams, the CEO of Stripe-owned stablecoin platform Bridge.
Longtime rivals sign up side by side
The backer list stands out for its breadth and for putting direct competitors side by side. It includes both big card networks (Visa and Mastercard), processors and PSPs (Stripe, Adyen, Fiserv), custody bank BNY, asset manager BlackRock, banks (Standard Chartered, DBS, U.S. Bank), crypto firms (Coinbase, Ripple, Crypto.com, Fireblocks, MetaMask), and consumer platforms such as Shopify, DoorDash, and Google.
- Free minting and redemption: any partner can create or redeem tokens at no cost and with no artificial volume limits.
- Independent governance: Open Standard runs the token, and its board is made up of participating partners, “ensuring decisions are made for the collective interest, not a single entity,” according to the launch announcement.
- Shared economics: income from the reserves (Treasury bills, deposits) goes back to the partners, minus a small management fee for operating costs.
- Multichain launch: native issuance on Solana from day one, with other blockchains to follow.
Stripe said Open USD will be the “default stablecoin” for its partner businesses. BNY expects stablecoins to account for $1.5 trillion in value by 2030, said Carolyn Weinberg, the bank’s chief product and innovation officer. “A stablecoin with neutral governance and shared economics is a unique combination that has potential to unlock the next phase of digital assets growth,” she said.
How Open USD differs from USDT and USDC
| Feature | USDT / USDC (single issuer) | Open USD (consortium) |
|---|---|---|
| Control | One issuing company (Tether, Circle) | Independent company, board of partners |
| Reserve income | Kept by the issuer | Shared among partners |
| Mint / redeem fees | Vary by issuer | None, with no volume limits |
| Distribution | Network of licensed partners | Partners co-own the standard |
| Launch chain | Already live on multiple chains | Native on Solana, other chains to follow |
Mastercard is already wiring card settlement to stablecoins
The launch builds on a broader shift among the card networks. On June 3, 2026, Mastercard said it would expand its settlement options to add on-chain settlement in regulated stablecoins alongside conventional currencies. USDC was already being used for early flows in select markets. Issuers and acquirers will be able to choose when and how they settle card transactions, including intraday, on weekends, and on public holidays, outside traditional banking hours.
- Six regulated stablecoins are supported: USDC, RLUSD, PYUSD, USDG, USDP, and SoFiUSD, across eight blockchains.
- The first partners are expected in the US and Latin America: ARQ (formerly DolarApp), CBW Bank, Cross River, Lead Bank, and Nuvei.
- Stablecoin settlement sits alongside existing processes rather than replacing them, on the same network infrastructure, giving banks more choice.
Stablecoin moves pile up in summer 2026
Payments firms want to own the rail
Open USD marks a turning point. After watching stablecoins from the sidelines, the biggest names in payments now want to own the rail collectively rather than rent it from an outside issuer. The model echoes the card networks, which began as bank cooperatives before going public. The contest will play out on three fronts: liquidity, since a stablecoin is only as useful as its market depth; compliance, with GENIUS Act implementing rules expected in mid-July in the US and MiCA in Europe; and real acceptance by merchants.