Open Standard is building a stablecoin called Open USD that launches later this year with a novel wrinkle: instead of one issuer keeping reserve revenue, participating firms split the upside from whatever yield the backing assets generate.
Visa, Stripe, Coinbase, and other unnamed backers are part of the consortium. Open Standard has not yet disclosed how the revenue split works, what percentage each firm receives, or which assets will collateralize the token.
The core promise is friction-free minting and redemption. Businesses can mint Open USD without fees or volume limits, and redeem it the same way. Most stablecoins charge spreads or impose caps on how much users can move through the system in a day. Open USD eliminates that gate.
The revenue-sharing model diverges from the conventional stablecoin playbook. Issuers like Circle and Paxos have long kept reserve yield for themselves, or split it narrowly with banks that hold the collateral. A consortium approach forces coordination—participants have to agree on which reserves to hold, when to rotate them, and how quickly to distribute profits. It also means no single firm controls the issuer's treasury decisions.
How the incentive structure actually works in practice hinges on details Open Standard has not yet released. Who decides on reserve composition? What happens if one participant votes to lock capital longer for higher returns while another needs liquidity? Can members vote their stake, or is it one vote per entity? If revenue goes quarterly, does that create pressure to chase yield in riskier buckets? These mechanics matter for stability under stress.
The fact that major payment rails—Visa and Stripe—and a major crypto exchange—Coinbase—are signing up points to an industry bet that stablecoins need institutional weight to scale beyond crypto trading. Visa and Stripe reach merchants at scale; Coinbase reaches retail and traders. A stablecoin that all three use for settlement or customer transactions could reduce friction in payments.
But consortium governance carries its own risks. When multiple for-profit firms share a revenue bucket, conflicts around payout timing, reserve strategy, and expansion typically surface. Open Standard will need to publish its governance rules and reserve policy before launch to let users assess whether the incentive structure favors stability or dividend extraction.