Open USD: Over 140 Giants Including Visa, Stripe, and Coinbase Launch a New Stablecoin Consortium

A landmark coalition of more than 140 companies spanning finance, payments, technology, and crypto has officially announced Open USD — a stablecoin initiative built to fundamentally reimagine how digital dollars are issued and governed. Rather than relying on a single controlling entity, Open USD introduces a shared-governance model that distributes power and economic benefits across its entire partner network.

The list of participating organizations reads like a who's who of global commerce and finance. Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Stripe, Adyen, Fiserv, BlackRock, BNY, Standard Chartered, DBS, U.S. Bank, Coinbase, Bybit, OKX, Ripple, Crypto.com, Fireblocks, MetaMask, Aave, Solana, Polygon, Stellar, Shopify, DoorDash, Google, and IBM are all among the founding backers. Together, they aim to construct what they describe as open, scalable stablecoin infrastructure capable of supporting the movement of money at a global level.

At the center of the project sits Open Standard — an independent company whose board is composed of representatives from the participating partners. This structure is a deliberate departure from the issuer-controlled model that dominates today's stablecoin landscape. Three guiding principles underpin the initiative: zero fees for minting and redemption regardless of volume, distribution of reserve yield back to partners after a management fee is deducted, and a governance framework engineered to prevent any single participant from exerting undue control over the network.

The architects of Open USD argue that current stablecoin solutions fall short for enterprise-scale use. Founding CEO Zach Abrams pointed to persistent friction points — steep minting and redemption costs, restricted access to reserve income, and over-reliance on the product decisions of third-party issuers — as the core problems driving the consortium's formation. "Existing stablecoins have great strengths, but to use them at scale, businesses need something that's open, low-cost, high-throughput, broadly accessible, and aligned to their interests," Abrams stated.

Senior executives from major partners have also weighed in on the significance of the launch. Stripe's President of Technology and Business, Will Gaybrick, indicated that Open USD is positioned to become the default stablecoin for businesses operating on Stripe's platform. Meanwhile, Visa's Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Jack Forestell, emphasized that governance structures, interoperability, and institutional trust will be defining factors as stablecoins continue to deepen their integration into the global financial system.

The breadth of the coalition is notable not just for its size but for its diversity. Traditional payment rails, multinational banks, fintech disruptors, crypto exchanges and protocols, and enterprise software firms are all represented — a sign that the appetite for neutral, partner-aligned stablecoin infrastructure extends well beyond any single sector.

Open USD is expected to go live later in 2025. When it does, it will enter a stablecoin market currently dominated by issuer-controlled tokens, carrying with it the collective weight of some of the world's most influential financial and technology institutions.