Visa, Mastercard Join 140-Plus Firms to Launch Open USD Stablecoin

Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase and more than 140 businesses have formed a consortium called Open Standard that plans to issue a U.S. dollar-pegged token named Open USD later this year. The group said the token will let companies mint and redeem without fees or volume limits, a structure aimed at large-scale payment and settlement work.

Founding CEO Zach Abrams told the consortium that existing stablecoins have strong qualities. Companies need a token system that is open, broadly accessible and aligned with their commercial interests to use the technology at scale, he said.

Under the model Open Standard described, earnings from the reserves backing Open USD will be shared with partners after a management fee is deducted for operating costs. This gives network participants a direct economic interest. BNY's chief product and innovation officer, Carolyn Weinberg, said a stablecoin with neutral governance and shared economics could support the next stage of digital asset growth.

The launch follows a period of intense regulatory and institutional activity around stablecoins. President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law last year, creating federal rules that provide a legal framework for stablecoin use in payments and money movement.

Visa has been expanding its own stablecoin work. At the Visa Payments Forum 2026 in June, the company said it was widening stablecoin settlement pilots across regions, blockchains and currencies, and building a technology layer for tokenized deposits. Visa's stablecoin settlement run rate had reached about $7 billion as of March 2026. More than 160 stablecoin-linked card programs were live or in development. For broader context on competitive dynamics, see our earlier piece on Open USD Tests Stablecoin Incentive War with Visa, Mastercard.

Institutional interest has also grown outside the U.S. In January, 10 European banks formed Qivalis to launch a euro-pegged stablecoin in the second half of 2026, pending regulatory approval. The group includes BNP Paribas, ING, UniCredit and SEB. The token will initially focus on crypto trading before expanding to other uses. ING carries an Alpha Score of 75, reflecting its institutional positioning in digital assets.

Some fintech and crypto firms had already taken a similar path in 2024 with the launch of the Global Dollar Network, another stablecoin network built around shared participation. Open Standard enters that market with a larger payments industry presence, as major card networks and crypto firms continue testing whether stablecoins can move beyond trading and become a regular settlement tool for businesses.

The entry of Visa and Mastercard into a direct stablecoin consortium shifts the competitive terrain. Existing stablecoin issuers like Tether and Circle have long dominated crypto trading pairs. The fee-free minting and shared reserve economics of Open USD could appeal to large merchants and payment processors looking for a lower-cost settlement rail. BNY's involvement as a custodian or reserve manager adds institutional credibility.

For traders, the main near-term risk is fragmentation. A new stablecoin with Visa and Mastercard behind it may draw liquidity away from existing tokens in certain use cases. The large incumbents still control the on-ramps for most crypto trading. Mastercard itself has an Alpha Score of 68, indicating moderate strength in adapting to digital asset trends. The real test will be whether businesses actually mint and use Open USD for settlement, or whether it remains another consortium with big names and little volume.

No launch date has been set beyond "later this year." The consortium did not disclose which blockchain the token will run on, though the open-standard language suggests multi-chain support. Pilot programs with major merchants or card issuers would signal real adoption rather than just industry signaling.