Visa, Mastercard and 140 Other Companies Launch Open USD Stablecoin Against Circle and Tether
More than 140 financial and technology companies — including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and Coinbase — launched the new dollar stablecoin Open USD. The project is managed by the independent Open Standard company; the initiative is described as a direct challenge to the economic model on which the dominance of Circle and Tether in the stablecoin market is based.
AI-processed from TNW; edited by Hamidun News
A consortium of more than 140 financial and technology companies — including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and Coinbase — has launched a new dollar stablecoin Open USD, managed by the independent company Open Standard.
Who joined the consortium
Among the project participants, in addition to Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and Coinbase, are more than 140 other financial and technology companies. With such a scale of consolidation, a separate market player of stablecoins rarely boasts — most existing projects are managed by a single issuing company, not a broad alliance of payment networks.
What is Open USD aimed at
The initiative is described as a direct challenge to the economic model on which Circle's (USDC issuer) and Tether's (USDT issuer) dominance in the stablecoin market rests. A separate independent structure Open Standard will manage the new token, not one of the founder participants — this should reduce conflicts of interest within the consortium.
- Number of consortium participants — more than 140 companies
- Key participants — Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Coinbase
- Project operator — independent company Open Standard
- Stated goal — to reduce the economic dominance of Circle and Tether
The very fact that direct competitors in the payment market — Visa and Mastercard — united in one consortium together with crypto platform Coinbase and payment processor Stripe shows that interest in controlling stablecoin infrastructure outweighs the usual competition between these companies.
What this means
The entry of the largest payment networks and fintech companies into the stablecoin market as a single consortium changes the balance of power in the industry where independent issuers like Circle and Tether have hitherto dominated. With such a scale of founders, Open USD can quickly gain traction in the existing payment infrastructure of Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and Coinbase — which means competition for a share of the dollar stablecoin market will noticeably intensify in the near future.
Frequently asked questions
Who manages the Open USD stablecoin?
The project is managed by the independent company Open Standard, not the consortium-founding companies themselves.
Which companies are behind the launch of Open USD?
The consortium includes more than 140 financial and technology companies, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and Coinbase.
Need AI working inside your business — not just in your newsfeed?
I build production AI for companies — custom CRM, internal tools, autonomous agents, workflow automation. Owned by you, shaped to your process, no per-seat tax. Built by Zhemal Khamidun, CPO of AlpinaGPT (AI platform, 6,000+ users).
The AI world, distilled — once a week
Seven stories that actually mattered, hand-picked. No noise, no reposts, no press releases.
Done! Check your inbox for a confirmation.