Open USD Stablecoin Launches With Backing From Coinbase, Stripe and Mastercard
Key Takeaways
- •Open USD (OUSD) launched on four networks—Ethereum, Solana, Base, and Tempo—and is accessible through integration paths from Coinbase, Mastercard, Stripe, and Visa with more than 200 network partners at launch.
- •Businesses can mint and redeem OUSD at a 1:1 rate with the U.S. dollar without minting or redemption fees, while partners can earn rewards tied to their contribution to the network.
- •Stripe has integrated OUSD across its stablecoin products, including Treasury, Issuing, Global Payouts, and crypto onramps, enabling businesses to receive, hold, send, and spend the token through stablecoin-linked card programs.
- •Mastercard added OUSD to its digital-asset infrastructure alongside USDC, PayPal's PYUSD, and Paxos-issued USDG, signaling a multi-stablecoin strategy rather than reliance on a single dollar token.
- •Open USD's structure gives payment companies economic incentives to expand usage, including plans to distribute most of the project's equity over time based on how partners grow the network, placing distribution and economics at the center of competition with USDC.
Open USD (OUSD) has entered the stablecoin market with backing from major payments and crypto companies, creating a new challenge for established dollar tokens such as Circle's USDC.
The token launched on four networks — Ethereum, Solana, Base (Coinbase's Ethereum layer-2) and Tempo (the payments-focused blockchain developed by Stripe and Paradigm) — and businesses can access it through integration paths from Coinbase, Mastercard, Stripe and Visa. The project arrives with more than 200 network partners and a business model designed to distribute more of the economics generated by stablecoin activity. According to Open Standard, businesses can mint and redeem OUSD at a 1:1 rate with the U.S. dollar and without minting or redemption fees, while partners can also earn rewards tied to their contribution to the network.
Payment rails become the battleground
Stripe has integrated OUSD across its stablecoin products, including Treasury, Issuing, Global Payouts and crypto onramps. The integration gives businesses the ability to receive, hold, send and spend OUSD, including through stablecoin-linked card programs.
Mastercard has also added OUSD to the stablecoins supported through its digital-asset infrastructure, which currently lists USDC, PayPal's PYUSD, the Paxos-issued USDG and OUSD. The lineup signals that the payments giant is pursuing a multi-stablecoin model rather than relying on a single dollar token.
USDC faces a new economic model
The competitive pressure on Circle's USDC centers less on immediate replacement and more on distribution and economics. CoinDesk reported in August that Coinbase, Visa and Mastercard planned to support multiple stablecoins, suggesting Open USD could function as another payment rail alongside USDC.
Open USD's structure gives payment companies and other participants a direct economic incentive to expand its usage. CoinDesk also reported that the project plans to distribute most of its equity over time based on how partners help grow the network.
The launch therefore places stablecoin economics and payment distribution at the center of the next phase of competition. USDC retains established liquidity and integrations, while Open USD is attempting to build adoption by aligning the financial incentives of the companies that distribute and use it. What to watch from here is adoption itself: issuance across the four supported networks, how quickly the 200-plus partners activate OUSD, and whether incentive-aligned distribution translates into everyday payment volume.
