Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, and Coinbase just pooled $1 billion behind a brand-new stablecoin that shares its profits with partners rather than hoarding them, and that single design choice puts one established giant directly in the crosshairs.
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Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN | COIN Price Prediction), Mastercard (NYSE: MA), Visa (NYSE: V), Stripe, and Shopify have collectively committed $1 billion in liquidity to the Open USD stablecoin, which launched on September 30, 2026. A stablecoin is designed to maintain a value of $1, and with major payment companies backing it, OUSD is entering the market with significant support.
The $1 billion represents liquidity that these partners are ready to provide, allowing users to easily convert OUSD into dollars. While this commitment is substantial, it still pales in comparison to the existing market giants. This raises the question: Does Open USD pose a threat to Tether (CRYPTO: USDT), USD Coin (CRYPTO: USDC), and Ripple’s RLUSD (CRYPTO: RLUSD)?
Stripe’s Bridge Issues Open USD and Shares Reserve Income With Partners
The company Bridge, acquired by Stripe for $1.1 billion in 2024, issues OUSD and provides monthly updates on its reserves. BlackRock, Lead Bank, and BNY Mellon manage these reserves. Open USD launched on Ethereum, Solana, Base, and Tempo. The organization behind OUSD, Open Standard, reports that its partner network has grown to over 200 companies, up from 140 in June.
OUSD stands out for its business model. Unlike Tether and Circle, which issue USDC and keep most of the interest income from their reserves, OUSD shares most of that revenue with its partners. These partners receive earnings based on their participation, and they can create and redeem tokens at $1 without any fees.
Essentially, this turns the companies distributing OUSD into stakeholders. As Open Standard CEO Zach Abrams explains, “Every other stablecoin is building a fund. We’re building money.”
Open USD Starts With $1 Billion Against Tether’s $184 Billion
OUSD is significantly smaller than established players. As of October 4, Tether’s USDT has a market cap of around $184 billion, while USDC stands at about $74 billion, and Ripple’s RLUSD has reached approximately $2.5 billion.
No circulating supply for OUSD was initially reported. However, Tempo, one of the blockchains supporting it, noted that OUSD trading liquidity exceeded $400 million on its first day, indicating strong initial interest, though it has not yet revealed the number of holders.
Tether and Circle built their market presence primarily through crypto trading, as traders looked for dollar alternatives to facilitate transactions. This existing habit helped them establish extensive markets that a new entrant cannot replicate overnight. However, OUSD is starting within the financial systems that handle payments directly, leveraging card networks and Shopify stores, where USDT and USDC have minimal influence. This market includes many of the 35% of Americans who now own cryptocurrency.
USDC Faces the Biggest Threat From Open USD, and RLUSD Gets a Payments Rival
Among established tokens, USDC faces the biggest risk from Open USD. Circle already splits reserve income with its distributors, and since Coinbase benefits from USDC revenue and is also an OUSD partner, it can promote whichever token offers them more profit.
Adding pressure is Visa’s involvement; the company has been working on settlement programs using USDC, while it now supports a rival that shares its revenue. So far, Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe have not committed to using OUSD for default merchant or card transactions, yet doing so could significantly boost its usage.
Ripple’s RLUSD also faces a different set of challenges. Ripple sells RLUSD to banks and payment institutions for cross-border transactions, just the type of customers that OUSD’s partners are already accommodating. With OUSD backed by major players like Visa and Mastercard, institutions assessing payment networks will have to consider this strong competitor.
Is the Open USD Stablecoin a Challenge to Tether, USDC and RLUSD?
In conclusion, Open USD is primarily a concern for USDC, challenging RLUSD’s market appeal, while Tether’s lead in crypto trading remains unaffected in the short term. OUSD’s profit-sharing structure could incentivize Coinbase, Visa, and other partners to favor it over USDC, potentially pulling more business away from Circle.
For XRP holders (CRYPTO:XRP), the fate of RLUSD primarily relates to Ripple’s business developments and does not directly influence XRP’s value.
The clearest sign of Open USD’s impact will be how it is used for settlements. If Visa, Mastercard, or Stripe start processing payments in OUSD by default, or if OUSD’s supply grows into the tens of billions by mid-2027, the competitive landscape for all three established stablecoins could shift dramatically.
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