Launch Size Fell Short of Headlines
Open USD went live on September 30 with $468 million in circulation, despite partners Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Coinbase, and Shopify announcing a $1 billion stablecoin commitment. The gap lies in how that figure is structured. The $1 billion represents committed liquidity for converting the stablecoin into dollars, not capital deployed at launch.
The stablecoin's actual backing on day one consisted of $468.45 million in reserves: $257.2 million in cash and $211.2 million in Treasuries and short-duration money market funds. BlackRock, Lead Bank, and BNY Mellon manage the reserves, with Bridge publishing monthly attestations. That $468 million makes OUSD about 0.15% of the dollar stablecoin market, which stands above $300 billion. Tether holds 59.6% at $184 billion, and USDC controls 24.1% with $74 billion.
The Stripe Acquisition Price Matches the Commitment
Stripe acquired Bridge, the company that issues OUSD, for $1.1 billion in October 2024. That price equals the liquidity commitment now marketed as backing for the stablecoin. Bridge founders Zach Abrams and Sean Yu, both Square and Coinbase alumni, had raised $54 million before the sale and counted SpaceX and Coinbase as customers.
Open Standard, which runs OUSD, is equally owned by the five founding partners. Bridge became a Stripe subsidiary following the acquisition and now handles token issuance. The partners can mint and redeem OUSD at $1 with no fees, earning their return through a share of reserve income instead. Equity in Open Standard will shift over four to five years based on the supply and transaction activity each partner generates.
Payments Giants Fund Their Own Disruption
Visa reported $3.85 billion in international transaction revenue for the quarter ending June, out of $11.6 billion in total net revenue. That cross-border line grew 6%, slower than other segments. OUSD targets the same cross-border payments that generate those fees. Mastercard completed its acquisition of BVNK, a stablecoin payments firm, on August 3.
The revenue model differs from Circle's approach. Circle paid $410 million in distribution and transaction costs in Q2, mostly to Coinbase, while keeping the issuer role and regulatory exposure. OUSD flips that structure by making distributors equity holders who earn from reserve income rather than transaction fees.
Tempo's chief business officer projected about $1 billion of OUSD on Tempo within months and possibly over $100 billion over several years. Those figures come from an interested party, and neither Open Standard nor Bridge has published updated circulating supply data since launch. The GENIUS Act, which takes effect January 18, 2027, could restrict partner rewards tied to balances. The Federal Reserve proposed rules that would presume certain third-party arrangements prohibited, with a comment period closing November 30.
More than $400 million in liquidity was deployed across DEXs, stablecoin swaps, and bridges on Tempo at launch. The token runs on Ethereum, Solana, Base, and Tempo, with support from over 200 financial institutions and businesses. Coinbase began supporting OUSD on October 1, and Mastercard plans additional distribution through BVNK.