Open USD rattled Circle’s stock, but its key backers still support USDC Executives at Coinbase, Visa and Mastercard said they plan to support multiple stablecoins, suggesting Open USD is another payments rail rather than a direct replacement for USDC. – The launch of Open USD,…
cked by Coinbase, Visa and Mastercard, initially sparked fears of a direct challenge to Circle’s USDC and wiped billions from Circle’s market value. – Executives at Coinbase, Visa and Mastercard now say they are pursuing a multi-stablecoin, multi-chain strategy, positioning Open USD as an additional network rather than a replacement for USDC. – Analysts say many Open USD partners have made only light commitments and that execution and existing liquidity in USDC and USDT will matter more than the size of Open USD’s consortium. When Open Standard announced Open USD a month ago, investors quickly interpreted the backing from Coinbase (COIN), Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) as a direct challenge to Circle (CRCL) and its $72 billion USDC stablecoin
The announcement erased billions of dollars from Circle’s market value. Shares fell as much as 20% — and have yet to recover — as the consortium unveiled more than 140 launch partners, fueling concerns that some of USDC’s largest commercial partners were lining up behind a rival digital dollar. The reaction highlighted a broader shift in the stablecoin market.
Once dominated by a handful of crypto-native issuers like Circle, the sector now is drawing banks, payment networks and fintech firms eager to issue or distribute digital dollars as regulation clears the way for wider adoption. With that, the competitive battle is increasingly extending beyond issuing tokens to securing the payment rails, exchanges and financial platforms that put them into users’ hands. Recent earnings calls from Open USD’s highest-profile backers, however, paint a more nuanced picture.