140 Giants Join Forces to Launch "Open USD" Stablecoin

Financial technology has crossed a line where massive, decentralized web networks are directly merging with corporate and traditional banking infrastructure. On June 30, a powerful alliance of over 140 banking and tech giants—including Google, Samsung, BlackRock, Coinbase, Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard—officially launched a unified stablecoin ecosystem called Open USD through an independent venture named Open Standard. The announcement sent shockwaves through the market, with Circle shares tumbling more than 17% to a four-month low as investors digested the implications of this unprecedented coalition.

Open Standard has structured Open USD around three core principles that directly target the pain points of existing stablecoin models. First, businesses will be able to mint and redeem Open USD without cost and without volume limits—a feature the company describes as built for scale. Second, partners will receive the earnings generated on Open USD's reserves, less only a management fee to cover operational costs. This model strikes at the core economics of today's stablecoin issuers like Circle and Tether, who typically retain most of the interest generated by reserve assets. Third, the stablecoin will be governed collaboratively through a board composed of partner companies, rather than being controlled by a single entity.

The initiative is led by Zach Abrams, co-founder of stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge, which Stripe acquired in 2024. "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. BlackRock's Samara Cohen noted that stablecoins with neutral governance and shared economics could support further growth in digital assets, adding that the firm anticipates the broader stablecoin market could reach $1.5 trillion by 2030.

The roster of participating companies reads like a who's who of the global financial and technology ecosystem. Payment networks and processors include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Fiserv, and Adyen. Fintechs include Stripe, Klarna, Affirm, and Ramp. Banking participants include BlackRock, BNY, Standard Chartered, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, DBS Bank, U.S. Bank, and BBVA. Technology and commerce platforms Google, Samsung Electronics, IBM, Shopify, Mercado Libre, and DoorDash are also listed, alongside crypto firms Coinbase, Ripple, Solana, Base, Fireblocks, and Stellar. The stablecoin is expected to launch natively on Solana from day one later in 2026, and will also run on Coinbase's Base blockchain, Ethereum, and Polygon.

Stripe's Will Gaybrick signaled the company's commitment, saying Open USD would become the default stablecoin for businesses operating on Stripe's platform. Mastercard's Jorn Lambert said the goal was for infrastructure underpinning stablecoins to be "open, interoperable, and broadly accessible". The initiative reflects a broader trend of payment networks, banks, and technology platforms coordinating on shared stablecoin infrastructure rather than pursuing separate, proprietary approaches.

Concurrently, paytech Worldline, Mastercard, and French lender Crédit Agricole completed France's first live, in-production agentic payment transaction on June 30. The production use case involved an AI agent supporting a Crédit Agricole customer in searching for festivals. By setting specific parameters such as budget, event type, and location, the customer received a range of options from the agent, enabling them to confirm their choice before initiating the purchase with event solutions provider Weezevent. The transaction's commerce flow was processed end-to-end on Worldline's infrastructure while interacting with Mastercard Agent Pay, with Crédit Agricole serving as the issuing bank to authenticate and authorise the payment.

The initiative "demonstrates the ability to enable agentic commerce journeys within existing banking and merchant environments, while respecting market security and traceability requirements," according to a joint statement. The development follows Worldline's success in facilitating a live end-to-end European agentic payment between an ING cardholder and a Dutch merchant, unveiled at Money20/20 earlier this year. These projects build on Mastercard's earlier trial with Spanish banking giant Banco Santander in March, which resulted in Europe's first live AI agent payment.

The push for Open USD signals a fundamental shift away from traditional, slow wire transfers toward instant, internet-native money movement. In daily operations, businesses can process international payroll and settle retail supply lines instantly across the globe with zero intermediary bank fees. The stablecoin's no-cost minting and redemption model, combined with its shared governance structure, positions it as a potential industry-owned utility rather than a proprietary product controlled by a single issuer.

As stablecoin transaction volumes approach levels comparable to the ACH network, Open USD's unprecedented coalition—spanning payments, banking, fintech, and crypto—signals that stablecoins are becoming shared financial infrastructure. The message is clear: the era of proprietary, single-issuer stablecoins is giving way to an era of collectively governed, interoperable digital dollars backed by the world's largest financial institutions. And with agentic payments now live in production, autonomous bots are proving they can securely handle retail transactions end-to-end—paving the way for a future where AI agents manage commerce as seamlessly as humans do today.