Samsung, Dunamu deny formal consent to join OUSD stablecoin group
DeFi & Yields ·
Several South Korean firms named as partners in the new OUSD stablecoin consortium say they never formally agreed to join and only learned of their inclusion through news reports.
Open Standard, the global alliance behind the dollar-based stablecoin OUSD, unveiled the project and said it plans a launch within the year, according to a Korean-language report. The group has said roughly 140 global financial and payments companies are participating, including Visa, Mastercard and BlackRock, with membership structured neither as a decentralized autonomous organization nor as shareholding. Among the Korean names listed were Samsung Electronics, Dunamu, Shinhan Financial Group, Kakao Bank, K Bank, Hyundai Card, KB Kookmin Card, BC Card, Hana Card, Samsung Card, Woori Card, NH Nonghyup Card and Hanwha.
A Samsung Electronics representative said there was no official consultation and that the company does not know what role it would play in the alliance, per the same report. Shinhan Financial Group, Dunamu and K Bank similarly said Open Standard had asked about participation and that they had only indicated they would consider it, yet their names ended up listed as consortium members. One company representative said they learned of their inclusion through domestic news coverage, describing their earlier response as a casual "we'll consider it if things go well," and called being listed as a member embarrassing. The Block and Chosun Biz both reported the denials.
The dispute comes as the OUSD announcement had fueled speculation that a coalition of roughly 140 firms could challenge Tether and Circle, which currently split the dollar stablecoin market between USDT and USDC. OUSD is pitched as open infrastructure jointly run by companies that provide actual payment, remittance and settlement services rather than a single issuer. Under the proposed mechanics, a participating company deposits one dollar into an Open Standard reserve account and Open Standard issues one OUSD in return; returning one OUSD lets the company redeem one dollar from reserves, with no fees and no cap on issuance or redemption. Unlike Tether and Circle, which invest deposited funds in US Treasuries and similar assets to generate tens of trillions of won annually, Open Standard says it will distribute nearly all reserve investment income to network partners after deducting a small operational management fee.
It remains unclear how Open Standard came to list these companies as consortium members despite the firms' accounts of only preliminary, noncommittal exchanges, and whether the alliance will revise its published partner list. Also unresolved is what, if any, formal role Samsung, Dunamu, Shinhan, K Bank and the other named Korean firms will ultimately play in OUSD ahead of its planned launch.