Open Standard launched Open USD (OUSD) on Sept. 30, opening business access through Stripe, BVNK and a limited Visa rollout, with Coinbase access scheduled to begin Oct. 1.

Stripe confirmed that OUSD on Tempo is now its default stablecoin configuration. Businesses can deploy the token across the payments company's payments, treasury, payouts and card products. Users retain the ability to select alternative stablecoins and will not be forced to convert existing stablecoin balances.

The rollout follows the consortium's June 30 unveiling, when it promised free minting and redemption but said OUSD would go live later in the year. Visa introduced its platform in July, initially as a beta reserved for select clients.

Mastercard's route runs through BVNK, the stablecoin infrastructure company the card network acquired earlier this year. The Visa Stablecoin Platform remains in limited beta, with volume and geographic restrictions on OUSD access. Its portal is live, but API access is still forthcoming.

Free conversion, not free transactions

Open Standard says all four integration routes support minting and burning — the creation and redemption of tokens — at a 1:1 USD rate, at no cost. Businesses onboard with their selected provider and remain subject to that provider's eligibility requirements and geographic restrictions.

Visa's platform illustrates how the bank-to-token connection works in practice: clients receive a dedicated virtual account, send dollars by ACH or wire to obtain OUSD, and redeem back to a linked bank account through the same payment rails.

The no-cost pledge covers minting and redemption, not every transaction. Founding CEO Zach Abrams said in September that Open Standard would charge developers a small transaction fee rather than charge businesses burn, or exit, fees. Stripe's launch post likewise describes transaction fees sitting alongside free minting and burning.

The fee structure matters operationally. For treasury teams weighing OUSD against incumbents like USDC or USDT, the marginal cost of entry and exit falls to zero, while the cost surface shifts entirely to on-chain transaction activity — a design that favors high-volume, low-turnover flows and penalizes rapid cycling less than issuer models that monetize redemption.

Issuance, reserves and attestation

Open Standard lists native OUSD support on Base, Ethereum, Solana and Tempo. Stripe-owned Bridge issues the token, with reserves held at BlackRock, Lead Bank and BNY.

Bridge's reserve dashboard reported 477.3 million OUSD in circulation and $477.3 million in cash and Treasury reserves as of 1:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 30. Open Standard says reserve attestations will be published monthly.

That cadence lags the real-time dashboard but aligns with emerging attestation norms among compliant issuers. The 1:1 coverage between circulation and reserves at launch, per the dashboard, gives corporate treasurers a verifiable baseline — though monthly attestations leave interim windows where reserve composition is only visible through Bridge's own reporting.

A different ownership model

Distribution already carried both revenue and ownership benefits under the 2023 Circle–Coinbase agreement governing USDC. Open Standard's 2026 design goes a step further: participating partners can earn equity in the company based on supply and activity.

The distinction lies in the allocation mechanism. Circle negotiated a strategic stake for Coinbase; Open Standard offers an activity-linked opportunity to earn equity, extending rewards beyond a single anchor partner to any distributor that drives volume.

Governance also sits at different corporate layers. Circle said USDC governance would move in-house at its issuer. Open Standard describes a planned shareholder board for its own company, while Bridge — a Stripe subsidiary — handles token issuance. This comparison covers announced structures only, not current ownership percentages or realized returns.

The structure separates the commercial consortium from the regulated issuance layer, a split that could simplify the eventual application of stablecoin legislation to the entity holding the reserves.

What comes next

Coinbase access begins Oct. 1, the most immediate milestone in the rollout. Visa's API access remains forthcoming, and its beta limits will determine when institutional volume can actually flow through that channel. The first monthly reserve attestation, expected in the weeks after launch, will provide the first independently reviewable snapshot of the fund's composition.