OpenUSD launches with Coinbase, Mastercard and Stripe

OpenUSD launched on Sept. 30 as a dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Stripe. The token, OUSD, is pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar and went live on Ethereum, Solana, Base and Tempo, a Stripe-incubated network.

Stripe announced that partners will share yield from OUSD reserves rather than concentrating returns with the issuer. Patrick Collison, Stripe’s CEO, wrote that most yield will be passed through to partners. Stripe plans to integrate OpenUSD into several core product flows.

When the project was announced in June, more than 140 partners had committed to back OpenUSD.

Coinbase joined as a supporting partner. Coinbase has an existing commercial relationship with Circle that gives it a share of yield from USDC reserves.

Mastercard and Visa joined as infrastructure partners. Jorn Lambert, Mastercard’s chief product officer, described the development as an adjustment to a “multi-chain, ‘multi-money’ future” and wrote, “this is not a ‘winner-takes-all’ scenario.” Visa has stated a similar neutral position on multiple coins and chains.

OpenUSD launched on multiple chains to reach different technical ecosystems. Ethereum provides broad decentralized finance access, Solana offers lower-cost transactions, Base serves as an Ethereum layer 2, and Tempo targets Stripe-integrated flows.

OpenUSD will operate on regulated payment and consumer rails where USDC holds about 54% market share. Tether’s USDT remains widely used in offshore markets and in many emerging-market cases.

Stripe and its partners have emphasized interoperability and distribution as they add OpenUSD to merchant and consumer payment rails.