**A consortium including Visa, Mastercard and Coinbase has launched a new global stablecoin called 'Open USD', bringing together more than 140 businesses in an ambitious bid to transform digital tokens from crypto trading tools into mainstream payment infrastructure.**
The venture, called Open Standard, will issue a new U.S.-dollar pegged stablecoin expected to go live later this year. Founding CEO Zach Abrams described the initiative as addressing critical barriers that have prevented stablecoins from achieving widespread business adoption.
"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," Abrams said.
**The key innovation is economic.** Open Standard will let businesses mint and redeem Open USD without any cost and without limits on volumes — removing the friction that has kept larger enterprises from fully embracing stablecoin technology. Earnings from the reserves backing the digital token will be shared among the initiative's partners, minus a management fee to cover operational costs.
The launch comes at a pivotal moment for digital currency regulation. U.S. President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law last year, establishing the first federal rules and guidelines for stablecoins in the United States. That legal framework was widely seen as paving the way for digital assets to become an everyday method for making payments and moving money.
Still, stablecoins have remained mostly confined to facilitating trading in other crypto tokens rather than being used for everyday payments. The Open Standard consortium aims to change that by creating neutral governance and shared economics.
"A stablecoin with neutral governance and shared economics is a unique combination that has potential to unlock the next phase of digital assets growth," said Carolyn Weinberg, chief product and innovation officer at BNY, one of the partners in the consortium.
**The involvement of traditional finance giants is significant.** Visa and Mastercard have long been gatekeepers of the global payment system, and their direct participation in a stablecoin network signals a major shift in how the financial establishment views digital currencies. Coinbase brings deep crypto-native expertise, while the consortium's 140+ member businesses span multiple industries.
This is not the first attempt at a multi-company stablecoin network. A similar initiative called the Global Dollar Network was launched in 2024 by a group of fintech and crypto firms. However, the scale and institutional backing of Open Standard — anchored by two of the world's largest payment networks — represents a significant escalation in stablecoin adoption.
If successful, Open USD could accelerate the transformation of global payments, offering businesses a cheaper, faster, and more open alternative to traditional settlement systems.
