Mastercard backs business stablecoin push

Mastercard has joined a consortium of more than 140 companies backing Open USD, a new dollar-pegged stablecoin designed to lower the cost of business payments and widen corporate use of blockchain-based settlement.

The initiative, run by Open Standard, brings together payment networks, banks, technology companies, crypto platforms and asset managers in an attempt to create a shared stablecoin infrastructure rather than a token controlled by a single issuer. Open USD, expected to go live later this year under the ticker OUSD, is being positioned as a business-focused digital dollar for payments, treasury movement and settlement.

The launch places Mastercard alongside Visa, Coinbase, Stripe, BlackRock, Google, BNY, Standard Chartered, Ripple, Shopify and other participants in one of the broadest institutional efforts yet to challenge the dominance of established dollar stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC. The project’s central proposition is that companies using the token should share in the economics of the reserves backing it, rather than leaving most of that income with the issuer.

Open USD will be backed by dollar-denominated reserves and designed for minting and redemption by businesses without fees or volume caps. Reserve earnings, after a management fee for operating costs, are expected to be distributed among participating partners. That structure marks a significant departure from the model that has helped existing stablecoin issuers build large revenue streams from interest earned on Treasury bills and other cash-equivalent assets.

Mastercard’s participation fits into a broader strategy to support multiple forms of regulated digital money across its payments network. The company has been adding stablecoin settlement capabilities and has already moved to support tokens including USDC, PYUSD, USDG, USDP, RLUSD and SoFiUSD across supported blockchain networks such as Ethereum, Solana, Base, Polygon, Arbitrum, Canton, Tempo and XRPL. Earlier this year, Mastercard agreed to buy stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK in a deal valued at up to $1.8 billion, underlining its push into blockchain-based money movement.

For payment networks, stablecoins are no longer being treated solely as crypto-market instruments. They are increasingly viewed as rails for cross-border transfers, merchant settlement, supplier payments, remittances and payouts, especially in markets where banking corridors remain slow, expensive or fragmented. The appeal for businesses lies in faster settlement, longer operating hours, lower intermediary costs and programmability.

The competitive implications are substantial. Tether and Circle dominate the stablecoin market, which has grown into a sector worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Their tokens are widely used for trading, liquidity management and transfers across crypto exchanges, but mainstream commercial adoption remains limited. Open Standard’s backers are betting that a neutral, lower-cost and partner-governed model can persuade businesses to use stablecoins beyond exchange activity.

The timing is also important. The passage of the GENIUS Act in the United States last year created the first federal framework for payment stablecoins, setting clearer rules on reserves, issuer standards and oversight. That regulatory shift has encouraged banks, payment processors and fintech companies to move more assertively into tokenised money, while also raising the bar for compliance, transparency and risk management.

Open Standard founding chief executive Zach Abrams has described the project as a response to the barriers companies face when trying to use stablecoins at scale. Existing products have gained liquidity and market trust, but large corporate users often want lower costs, greater throughput, broader access and more influence over product governance.

The involvement of Coinbase adds a notable layer to the project because of its long association with USDC. Coinbase has continued to support USDC while joining Open Standard, reflecting the likelihood that the stablecoin market will become multi-issuer and multi-network rather than being dominated by one model. Ripple’s participation is also noteworthy because it has its own dollar stablecoin, RLUSD, and a long-standing focus on cross-border settlement.

For Mastercard, the move is not a replacement for cards or bank payments. It is part of a strategy to make the network relevant across different settlement rails. The company’s digital asset work has increasingly focused on interoperability, identity, compliance, wallet connectivity and on-and-off ramp services that can link traditional finance to blockchain infrastructure.