OUSD Launches on Solana Network, Opening Era of 'Corporate Joint Stablecoin'

[Block Media Reporter Ham Ji-hyun] The dollar stablecoin 'Open USD (OUSD)' has been launched on the Solana network with the participation of global payment companies. It is designed not just to add another dollar stablecoin but to allow companies to issue, redeem, and utilize it for payments and settlements directly through existing financial and payment networks like Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, and Coinbase.

On the 30th (local time), the Solana Foundation and Open Standard officially launched OUSD on the Solana network. OUSD is a stablecoin that maintains a 1:1 value with the dollar, allowing companies to convert US dollars to OUSD or redeem them back to dollars without incurring separate issuance or redemption fees.

The stablecoin infrastructure company 'Bridge Building Inc.', owned by Stripe, is responsible for issuing OUSD. BlackRock, Lead Bank, and BNY Mellon will hold the reserve assets and will publish certification reports on them monthly.

Companies can use OUSD through stablecoin infrastructure providers like BVNK, Stripe, Visa's 'Visa Stablecoin Platform (VSP)', and Coinbase. Each platform provides functionalities beyond simple buying and selling of OUSD, including wallets, payments, foreign exchange (FX), on/off ramps, cards, and settlements.

In July, Visa unveiled the VSP to allow financial institutions and fintech companies to handle the custody, issuance, and redemption of stablecoins in a single environment, selecting OUSD as its first supported asset. Mastercard also completed its acquisition of BVNK in August, expanding its business to connect existing payment networks with stablecoin infrastructure.

'Corporate Dollar' Jointly Participated by Coinbase, Visa, and Mastercard

The Open Standard that created OUSD is designed differently from typical single stablecoin issuers.

Open Standard is an independent company established with founding partners including Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe, and Visa, and over 200 financial institutions and fintech companies are pushing to participate in the OUSD network.

The key point is that companies that circulate OUSD widely are designed to receive economic rewards.

In traditional stablecoins, a single issuer typically takes a significant portion of the interest income generated from the reserve assets. In contrast, Open Standard allows multiple partners contributing to the supply and trading activities of OUSD to be rewarded. Partners can share the income generated from OUSD reserve assets under certain conditions and have the opportunity to secure equity in Open Standard based on their contribution to OUSD's growth.

Ultimately, Open Standard is closer to a joint stablecoin network that incentivizes banks, fintechs, and payment companies to integrate OUSD into their services and distribute it directly rather than just selling a single coin called OUSD.

Founding partners Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe, and Visa have decided to invest a total of over $1 billion (approximately 1.36 trillion won) to secure initial liquidity for OUSD.

Issued as 'Native Asset' on Solana

On Solana, OUSD is not a wrapped token brought from other chains but a native asset issued directly on Solana.

In the case of wrapped tokens created by moving assets from other blockchains via a bridge, there are additional risks associated with the entity holding the original assets and the bridge itself.

In contrast, the native OUSD on Solana is issued and redeemed directly on the Solana network without going through a separate bridge or wrapped asset.

OUSD uses Solana's 'Token-2022' standard. This standard is designed to support necessary functions for institutional tokens at the protocol level, such as transfer restrictions, pauses, and compliance management.

OUSD will also be issued natively on Ethereum, Base, and Tempo. Exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, and Uniswap will begin to expand the distribution network.

From 'Who Issues Stablecoins' to 'Who Distributes Them'

This launch is significant as it indicates that the competition in the stablecoin sector is expanding from just issuance scale to securing payment, banking, and fintech distribution networks.

While Tether (USDT) and Circle's USDC grew by having issuers supply stablecoins and exchanges and blockchain ecosystems accept them, OUSD has incorporated payment and financial infrastructure companies like Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, and Coinbase into its distribution network from the outset.

Companies can convert dollars to OUSD through the APIs of existing payment providers they already use, enabling them to use it for overseas remittances, business-to-business (B2B) payments, settlements, and cash management without building a separate blockchain infrastructure.

Stripe explained that companies using OUSD can build wallets, cards, and payment services through its API and send OUSD to virtual asset wallets in over 100 countries.

Especially if the OUSD model spreads, it could change the competitive landscape of the stablecoin market. It may become important not only to encourage the holding of stablecoins but also to provide economic reasons for banks, fintechs, and payment companies to distribute specific stablecoins.

From Solana's perspective, the addition of OUSD is expected to expand its position as a corporate payment network.

According to the Solana Foundation, the volume of stablecoin transactions processed on Solana this year has exceeded $5 trillion (approximately 6,799 trillion won), and global payment companies like Visa, PayPal, and Western Union have already established Solana-based payment and settlement services.

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