Stripe, Visa, and Over 100 Companies Join Forces to Launch USD Stablecoin OUSD
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Over 100 companies have jointly launched OUSD, a dollar-pegged stablecoin, with Visa, Stripe, Mastercard subsidiary BVNK and Coinbase all on board. Five institutions including Shopify have pledged to mint roughly $1 billion — the largest collective bet by mainstream payment firms on stablecoins, aimed squarely at the Tether–USDC duopoly.
What exactly is OUSD, and who is behind it?
OUSD is a dollar-pegged stablecoin — a digital currency whose value stays locked to $1, unlike Bitcoin's wild swings — issued by a new entity called Open Standard.
Behind it stand Visa, Stripe, Mastercard's BVNK, and Coinbase, plus over 100 supporting companies. This means → it is not a startup side-project but a coordinated move by mainstream payment networks.
CEO Zach Abrams previously ran Bridge, a stablecoin startup acquired by Stripe in 2025. He has gone from founder to alliance operator.
Is $1 billion in seed liquidity enough?
Five institutions, including Shopify, have pledged to mint a combined ~$1 billion in OUSD to bootstrap liquidity.
In plain terms = minting a stablecoin means depositing real dollars and receiving on-chain digital dollars in return. The $1 billion is a first layer of "floor" so merchants and developers have coins to work with.
For context, Tether commands $184 billion in circulation. A billion is a rounding error. OUSD's bet is not on launch volume — it is on whether the 100-plus members will actually route their users onto this rail.
Why now — what changed across the industry?
This week Citi announced a partnership with Coinbase to let institutional clients accept stablecoin payments. Separately, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and 19 other financial firms are planning a joint venture to issue their own dollar stablecoin.
This reflects a broader shift: traditional finance is no longer watching from the sidelines — it is piling in.
On the regulatory front, the Trump administration is evaluating an initiative to promote dollar stablecoin use overseas. This means → the policy stance has flipped from "restrict" to "export," opening a window for projects like OUSD.
Can Tether and USDC's grip actually be loosened?
The reality is stark. Tether (USDT) dominates with $184 billion in circulation; USDC trails second. Stablecoins from mainstream players like PayPal remain far smaller than either.
When Open Standard first announced the project in June, Circle's stock — the issuer behind USDC — dropped noticeably. The market's fear of rising competition was immediate.
Put simply = OUSD's real test is not whether it can be issued — it is whether 100-plus members will genuinely integrate their payment flows and user bases onto this track. A loud alliance is not the same as deep integration.
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