Wire · opportunities
Visa, Stripe, and 140 partners launch Open USD to take Circle's stablecoin revenue
◆ Sectors
◆ Geography
◆ Source
◆ Verified
Fusion42 · 22 July 2026 · Fusion42 review
Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, Coinbase, and 140+ partners launched Open USD (OUSD), a stablecoin designed to capture the reserve income that currently flows to Circle through USDC—which generated $652.5 million in reserve revenue in Q1 2026 alone. The consortium model offers participating companies direct participation in reserve economics rather than relying on a single issuer's distribution terms, threatening Circle's primary revenue engine as the largest payments and fintech platforms now have a credible alternative.
This Wire brief sits within Fusion42's coverage of Fintech.
◆ ◆ The Wire takeaway
If you built a stablecoin or payments infrastructure as a fintech, your largest partners just agreed to split the reserve income with each other instead of sending it to you. Circle's margin compression is your roadmap—the money moves from the issuer to the distributor.
◆ Coverage
1 source · 22 Jul 2026
◆ Related on Wire
◆ Topics