Open Standard has launched its new stablecoin, Open USD (OUSD), with $468.4 million in backing assets following its Sept. 30 debut. The token enters the market supported by a distribution partnership with payment network Stripe, which processed $1.9 trillion in total volume during 2025.
Reserve Backing and Multi-Chain Deployment
OUSD launched with 468.4 million tokens outstanding, fully backed by $468.45 million in reserve assets. These reserves consist of $257.2 million in cash alongside $211.2 million in Treasuries and short-duration money-market funds. OUSD is issued natively on Tempo, Base, Ethereum, and Solana, giving corporate entities several venues for settlement and treasury management.
To support launch trading, more than $400 million in liquidity was deployed on Tempo across decentralized exchanges, stablecoin swaps, and cross-chain bridges. Through its integration, Stripe allows businesses to hold OUSD via Stripe Treasury, send it through Global Payouts, accept it via Payments, and utilize it in stablecoin-backed card products, subject to regional availability.
Yield Distribution Model
Founded by a coalition of over 200 institutions—including Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase, and Shopify—Open Standard operates on an alternative economic framework. Stripe co-founder and Chief Executive Patrick Collison highlighted that the protocol returns reserve yield to participating partners based on token supply and generated transaction activity, rather than keeping interest at the issuer level.
This launch coincides with broader shifts in sector liquidity and governance, such as recent design debates surrounding Uniswap StablePair hook fee risks. Additionally, regulatory oversight of dollar-backed assets continues to develop following the US Treasury conditional filing windows for stablecoins and discussions around the Senate ADAPT Act stablecoin provisions.
Market Context and Future Rollout
Despite its institutional backing, OUSD enters a sector heavily dominated by incumbents. Total dollar stablecoins exceed $300 billion in market capitalization, led by Tether's USDT at $183.8 billion and Circle's USDC at $74.1 billion—which together control 84% of the market. OUSD's initial supply of $468 million accounts for roughly 0.15% of the sector.
Key details of the launch include:
- $468.45M reserve backing split between $257.2M cash and $211.2M Treasuries/funds.
- Multi-chain native deployment across Tempo, Base, Ethereum, and Solana.
- Distribution potential via Stripe, which averages $158 billion in monthly processing volume.
- Upcoming support on Coinbase starting Oct. 1, with additional Mastercard distribution planned via BVNK.
Why It Matters
Open USD represents an attempt to disrupt Tether and Circle's market dominance by replacing the centralized reserve-yield model with a revenue-sharing architecture. By redirecting yield to distribution partners, Open Standard provides a clear financial incentive for payment processors, banks, and merchants to adopt OUSD over competing stablecoins. However, competing against USDT and USDC will require converting Stripe's massive $1.9 trillion annual payment volume into active, daily on-chain token usage.
