Woofun AI reports that on June 30, the Open Standard organization officially announced the launch of the US dollar stablecoin Open USD (OUSD), initiating a direct challenge to existing market leaders with an initial participant roster exceeding 140 entities. This coalition spans the four critical sectors of payments, banking, crypto, and technology, featuring major players such as Visa, Mastercard, and American Express in the payments layer, while BlackRock, BNY Mellon, Standard Chartered, and DBS Bank represent the traditional finance sector. The crypto exchange representation includes Coinbase, Bybit, and OKX, alongside tech and e-commerce giants like Google, Shopify, and DoorDash, creating a comprehensive ecosystem from issuance to end-user application. The immediate market reaction was severe, with Circle's stock price falling approximately 16.5% on the day of the announcement, contributing to a cumulative decline of 39% over the preceding month.

The interim CEO of OUSD is Zach Abrams, the co-founder of Bridge, a stablecoin payment infrastructure company acquired by Stripe for $1.1 billion in February 2025. Bridge currently processes over $10 billion in stablecoin payments annually, serving high-profile clients including SpaceX, and secured a conditional national trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in February 2026. This regulatory milestone granted Bridge federal-level qualifications for both stablecoin issuance and digital asset custody, positioning the entity to manage the new token effectively. OUSD is scheduled for official launch in the second half of 2026, with initial deployment planned across the Solana, Polygon, Stellar, and Base blockchains to ensure broad interoperability and accessibility. The participants cover five distinct industry sectors, forming a complete value chain that integrates issuance, distribution, and usage scenarios.

Structurally, the alliance leverages deep vertical integration to compete with incumbents. At the payment network layer, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express contribute a merchant network covering over 100 million global acceptance points, ensuring immediate utility for the token. In the traditional finance layer, BlackRock manages over $11 trillion in assets, while BNY Mellon operates as the world's largest custodian bank, and Standard Chartered and DBS provide critical coverage of key Asian markets. The crypto infrastructure layer relies on Coinbase, Bybit, and OKX to supply both trading liquidity and fiat on/off-ramp channels, bridging the gap between traditional currency and digital assets. Finally, the tech and business layer utilizes Google, Shopify, and DoorDash to represent diverse end-user scenarios, embedding the stablecoin into daily consumer and commercial activities.

The economic model of OUSD is defined by three core rules designed to incentivize adoption and decentralize control. First, minting and redemption are completely free, with no minimum amount required, removing barriers to entry for users and institutions alike. Second, the interest income generated by the reserves, after deducting a management fee, is proportionally distributed to all participants driving OUSD circulation, aligning incentives across the alliance. Third, governance belongs to the alliance as a collective body rather than a single company, ensuring that no single entity can unilaterally dictate the token's direction. This structure contrasts sharply with the centralized governance models of many existing stablecoins, aiming to distribute power and profit among the 140+ stakeholders.

Per Woofun AI, the financial impact on Circle has been stark since its public listing in June 2025, when the stock reached a historical high of $263. One year later, following the OUSD announcement, Circle closed at around $62, marking a decline of more than 75% from its peak.

Concurrently, the market cap of USDC has shrunk significantly, dropping from a year-to-date high of $800 billion to around $740 billion. The market is currently pricing in three structural risks that threaten Circle's long-term viability. The first risk involves interest rates, as about 96% of Circle's revenue derives from reserve interest; Mizuho analysts warn that if the Fed continues to cut rates, Circle's forward revenue expectations could be reduced by 20% to 30%. The second risk concerns the Coinbase renewal, where the distribution fee-sharing agreement is reported to expire and be renewed in August 2026, a timing that coincides with the release of OUSD and places Coinbase as a participant on the opposing side. The third risk is regulatory, highlighted by the March 2026 introduction of a Clarity Act bill in the U.S. Congress to restrict stablecoins from paying interest to holders, which caused Circle's stock price to plummet by 18% in a single day.

While OUSD poses a significant threat to Circle, its impact on Tether appears limited due to Tether's entrenched position in emerging markets. According to Tether's official attestation report, Tether's net profit exceeded $10 billion in 2025. According to DefiLlama data, USDT and USDC together account for nearly 90% of the stablecoin market share. OUSD's Impact on Tether is Limited. Tether's moat is the emerging market's small-value payment network. According to DefiLlama data, in Q4 2025, USDT processed 2.33 billion small-value transfers, capturing 73% of the market.

However, Circle faces a more direct threat as the alliance members, including BlackRock, BNY Mellon, Standard Chartered, and DBS, were originally Circle's target clients. When these institutions participate in governing a stablecoin project themselves, Circle's narrative of 'institutional trust' is diluted, potentially eroding its competitive advantage in the corporate sector.

Circle has outlined several counterattack strategies to defend its market position against the new entrant. First, the company emphasizes cross-border compliance, noting it is the first issuer globally to obtain the EU's MiCA stablecoin license, whereas OUSD currently only holds the U.S. OCC license. Second, Circle leverages protocol embedding, as USDC remains the largest compliant stablecoin in the Ethereum DeFi ecosystem, integrated into hundreds of lending and trading protocols that create deep liquidity and usage stickiness. Third, the company highlights public company transparency, being listed on the NYSE, publishing monthly reserve attestations, and undergoing audits by the Big Four accounting firms to maintain investor confidence. These measures aim to differentiate Circle through regulatory breadth and ecosystem depth.

According to McKinsey data, stablecoin payment transaction volume will reach $390 billion in 2025, doubling year-on-year.