New stablecoin backed by Visa, Mastercard and Google takes aim at Circle and Tether
Security & Exploits ·
Open Standard launched Open USD with more than 140 corporate partners, and Circle's stock fell sharply the same day.
Open Standard, a company led by Zach Abrams, has launched a new stablecoin called Open USD, set to go live for global money movement later this year. More than 140 businesses have signed on as backers, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, BNY, Google, Shopify and DoorDash, alongside crypto firms such as Coinbase, Solana, Ripple, OKX and Aave.
The structure differs from existing stablecoins in three ways: businesses can mint and redeem for free with no volume caps, earnings on reserves go back to partners minus a small management fee, and the token is governed by a board of those partners rather than a single company. That design targets the most profitable part of the incumbent model, since Circle and Tether currently keep nearly all the yield generated by the Treasurys backing their tokens. Stripe's president said Open USD will become the default stablecoin for businesses on its platform.
The market reaction was immediate. CRCL stock lost 17% to 18% on the day of the launch, reflecting concern that Circle's growth story, built substantially on business and institutional adoption, is now exposed to a rival offering businesses a direct financial incentive to switch from USDC.
The launch lands amid a broader wave of activity around USDC. Circle has been moving large sums on-chain, including a $4.4 billion transfer to Coinbase via HyperEVM tied to Coinbase's new role as official USDC treasury provider for Hyperliquid, and a separate $4 billion transfer to Coinbase conducted directly on-chain rather than through a traditional bank wire. Elsewhere, Kraken has enabled USDCx deposits and withdrawals on Canton, and Sui has highlighted a new integration bringing USDC support through RedotPay. Separately, Binance canceled its SpaceX IPO campaign, saying it will refund all USDC involved while distributing $1 million worth of SPCXB tokens to participants by June 18.
What remains unresolved is how quickly Open USD can convert its roster of backers into actual usage once it goes live, and whether the yield-sharing and free minting model will draw meaningful volume away from USDC and USDT in practice rather than just in market reaction. Circle's stock move suggests investors are already pricing in some risk to its business model, but the article notes the bull case for Circle rested on a "rising tide" thesis that now looks uncertain rather than disproven.