Investing.com – A coalition backed by payment giants including Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), Stripe Inc., and Mastercard (NYSE: MA) has officially launched a new US dollar-pegged stablecoin. This marks one of the most significant collective efforts by traditional financial institutions to date in the realm of digital currency infrastructure.
The token, dubbed Open USD (OUSD) and developed by the Open Standard project, is now available to enterprise developers and institutions providing internet-native financial services. Its use cases span banking operations, settlement, and cross-border transactions. Initial adopters include Visa, Stripe, Coinbase Global Inc., and BVNK (a Mastercard-affiliated entity), with Shopify also participating. The coalition has committed to an initial total supply of approximately $1 billion in tokens to establish instant liquidity.
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OUSD is issued directly by Bridge, a subsidiary of Stripe. Its reserve assets are managed by BlackRock, Lead Bank, and BNY (Bank of New York Mellon), with plans to publish monthly “proof of reserves” reports. The token will operate natively across several major blockchain networks—including Ethereum, Solana, Base, and Tempo—and will be supported at launch by trading platforms such as Uniswap, Kraken, and Coinbase.
This launch underscores how established payment networks are increasingly integrating stablecoin technology to bypass the limitations of traditional clearing systems, offering settlement rails that are more cost-effective, efficient, and programmable. The momentum in this sector is further bolstered by a shifting regulatory landscape in the United States, where federal policymakers are actively exploring frameworks to promote the adoption of USD-backed digital assets on a global scale.
Despite strong institutional backing, Open Standard enters a highly concentrated market currently dominated by Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, which together account for the vast majority of global stablecoin liquidity. Previous attempts by traditional payment institutions to capture market share in this space have generally struggled with low initial adoption rates. OUSD aims to break this deadlock through a partner incentive mechanism that shares platform revenue and equity with participating organizations.