The stablecoin market was shaken by the news of the creation of a global alliance around the dollar-pegged stablecoin Open USD (OUSD). The list of participants included giants such as Google, Visa, Mastercard, as well as South Korea's Samsung Electronics and Dunamu. However, it turned out that no official confirmation from the Korean corporations followed — moreover, they publicly deny their involvement in the project.
On June 30, the Open Standard consortium introduced OUSD, planning to launch the stablecoin by the end of the year. According to the organizers, the alliance included around 140 global financial and payment companies, including Visa, Mastercard, and BlackRock. However, the list also included Samsung Electronics, Dunamu, the Shinhan financial group, KakaoBank, K Bank, and several other Korean players. The problem is that many of them learned about their participation from the news.
Korean Companies Perplexed
A representative of Samsung Electronics emphasized that the company did not hold official negotiations with the issuer and has no idea about its role in the alliance. Shinhan, Dunamu, and K Bank reported that Open Standard only inquired about their willingness to participate, receiving a non-binding response along the lines of "we'll consider it if the project goes well." One representative of the institutions directly stated that they learned about being included in the consortium from Korean media and called it unexpected.
Nevertheless, the mere fact of information about the participation of around 140 companies created expectations in the market that OUSD could compete with Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC), which have effectively divided the dollar stablecoin market.
OUSD Model: No Fees and Revenue Distribution
OUSD is positioned not as a project of a single company, but as an open infrastructure jointly managed by companies that actually provide payment services. The issuance mechanism is similar to Tether and Circle: when $1 is deposited into a reserve account, the issuer releases 1 OUSD, and upon redemption, the token is burned. The key difference is the absence of fees for these operations. Participating companies will be able to issue and redeem OUSD without volume restrictions.
Another important difference is the yield model. Tether and Circle invest user funds in U.S. government bonds, earning tens of trillions of won per year. OUSD, on the other hand, states its intention to distribute all income from reserve management among network partners, retaining only a small fee for operational expenses.
Expert opinion: The situation around OUSD resembles a classic case of "overselling" — where the project's ambitions outpace actual agreements. While Korean giants disavow participation, trust in the alliance is undermined. However, the very concept of a stablecoin with zero fees and revenue distribution is a serious challenge for Tether and Circle. If Open Standard manages to consolidate at least some of the announced partners, the stablecoin market could face a tectonic shift. But for now, these are just promises.