Open Standard announced the launch of Open USD, a new stablecoin intended for global money movement, on July 2, 2026. The stablecoin is expected to launch later in 2026.

More than 140 financial institutions, payment networks, and technology partners are participating in the Open USD initiative. These partners include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Stripe, BlackRock, Citizens Bank, and Coinbase. An independent company governed by a board of partner organizations will operate Open USD, with decisions on reserves, redemption rules, and technical standards made collectively rather than by a single issuer.

Partners will be able to mint and redeem Open USD tokens without cost, and they will share reserve earnings after a management fee is deducted. Zach Abrams, the co-founder of Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure company, is the founding CEO of Open Standard. Fireblocks, an infrastructure partner, will also be involved in Open USD.

Michael Shaulov, CEO and co-founder of Fireblocks, commented on the development. "This is an inflection point: digital assets are becoming a crucial part of how value moves around the world, underpinning and transforming business-critical payment flows." Stephen Tu, vice president of Moody's Ratings Financial Institutions Group, said, "Its structure reflects a broader trend also seen in tokenized deposits, where consortium-based models may have advantages over single-issuer approaches by aligning incentives, broadening distribution and supporting interoperability through shared governance." Tu added, "Its impact will depend on whether those partners route meaningful volume through it rather than simply adding another token to existing payment rails." Abrams stated, "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." He added, "It's a stablecoin built for the internet economy, designed by the businesses growing it." Abrams also said, "We're thrilled to bring together over 140 businesses to launch Open USD." The Open Standard group states that Open USD follows the rules set by the GENIUS Act.

Why It Matters

The stablecoin market is estimated at $313 billion in the U.S. Forecasts estimate the stablecoin market could reach $2 trillion in the U.S. by 2030.