Open USD Coalition Expands to 140+ Partners; American Express and Ripple Join Visa-Mastercard Stablecoin Initiative

Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, Coinbase, American Express, and Ripple have unified behind Open USD, a new dollar stablecoin with a revenue-sharing model that fundamentally restructures stablecoin economics—broadening incumbent payment-network adoption beyond crypto-native players and validating the thesis that traditional finance is absorbing on-chain settlement rather than resisting it.

What changed

Open Standard unveiled Open USD (OUSD) with backing from over 140 partners, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, and Coinbase. The coalition expanded further when American Express joined the initiative and Ripple announced its participation. The stablecoin introduces a revenue-sharing model that departs structurally from existing stablecoin economics, where a single issuer typically retains all reserve yield. This new framework allows multiple stakeholders to participate in fee and yield distribution, creating aligned incentives across payment networks, blockchain platforms, and financial institutions.

MetaMask simultaneously launched Money Account, a self-custody savings and spending product built on the Monad blockchain that integrates with Mastercard, paying users up to 4% variable annual percentage yield on stablecoin balances. This product demonstrates a direct integration pathway between decentralized wallet infrastructure and traditional card-network spending rails.

PayPal's PYUSD stablecoin initiative continues to advance as a parallel on-chain settlement option for merchant payments, reinforcing the multi-stablecoin settlement landscape the parent thesis describes.

Why it matters

Open USD's 140+ partner coalition and revenue-sharing model materially strengthen the thesis. The participation of American Express—a major incumbent financial institution outside the Visa-Mastercard duopoly—demonstrates that stablecoin settlement is no longer a niche crypto experiment but a structural upgrade that traditional finance views as essential infrastructure. The revenue-sharing model is the critical innovation: by allowing multiple parties to capture economic value from on-chain settlement, Open USD removes the zero-sum competitive dynamic that previously pitted payment networks against stablecoin issuers. This alignment mechanism makes it rational for incumbents to embed stablecoins into their core infrastructure rather than resist them. The thesis predicts that "incumbents are absorbing the innovation"—Open USD's design proves this absorption is happening through formal partnership and shared economics, not merely through grudging acceptance.

Ripple's entry into the Open USD coalition signals blockchain-infrastructure convergence. Ripple's participation bridges the gap between traditional payment networks (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) and blockchain settlement layers. This validates the thesis's claim that 24/7 intraday settlement across nights, weekends, and holidays will be enabled by stablecoins on multiple blockchains. Ripple's involvement suggests that XRP Ledger or similar infrastructure may become a settlement rail for Open USD, creating a direct link between incumbent payment networks and blockchain infrastructure.

MetaMask Money Account's Mastercard integration extends the thesis into consumer-facing applications. The product allows users to earn yield on stablecoin balances while spending directly via Mastercard, demonstrating the end-to-end integration the thesis describes. This is not a theoretical future state but a live product, showing that the infrastructure for 24/7 settlement is already being operationalized at the consumer level. The 4% yield incentivizes adoption and creates a competitive pressure on traditional savings products, further accelerating the migration of settlement flows onto stablecoin rails.

PayPal's PYUSD push reinforces the multi-stablecoin settlement thesis. Rather than a single dominant stablecoin, the evidence shows that multiple regulated stablecoins (USDC, PYUSD, RLUSD, and now OUSD) are coexisting and integrating into payment networks. This fragmentation actually strengthens the parent thesis: it proves that stablecoin settlement is not a zero-sum winner-take-all market but a structural upgrade that multiple incumbents are simultaneously adopting. The existence of competing stablecoins does not undermine the thesis; it confirms that on-chain settlement is becoming the default infrastructure layer.

Opposing sources and risks

Prior evidence contradicts elements of the thesis and warrants explicit acknowledgment. Visa's CFO downplayed the importance of stablecoin and agentic commerce to the U.S. payments giant in the short term, suggesting that executive messaging may lag behind strategic action. The EU's advancement of digital euro plans poses a structural risk: if the European Central Bank successfully deploys a central-bank digital currency (CBDC) for settlement, it could fragment the global stablecoin settlement landscape and reduce the relevance of private stablecoins like OUSD in European markets. Mastercard also faces fresh EU regulatory pressure as digital euro plans advance, which could constrain the company's ability to embed stablecoins into its European infrastructure.

PayPal Ventures' closure and PayPal's broader restructuring introduce execution risk: the company may lack the organizational capacity to scale PYUSD adoption while managing its core payments business. PayPal's stock weakness (down 1.3% over 30 days, trading at $44.07) suggests that markets are not yet convinced of the company's ability to compete in the stablecoin settlement space.

What to watch

Open USD transaction volumes and merchant adoption. The thesis predicts rising transaction volumes on stablecoin rails. Track whether Open USD reaches material settlement volumes (measured in daily transaction count and dollar value) within the next two quarters. Specific indicators: number of merchants accepting OUSD, daily settlement volume on Ethereum, Solana, and other blockchains, and the percentage of Visa and Mastercard's total transaction volume flowing through stablecoin rails.

American Express's integration depth. AXP's participation in Open USD is recent; monitor whether the company integrates OUSD into its core card-authorization infrastructure or treats it as a peripheral offering. Integration depth will signal whether Open USD is becoming a structural settlement layer or remaining a niche product.

MetaMask Money Account user growth and yield sustainability. The 4% yield is an incentive mechanism; track whether it persists or compresses as the product scales. User growth and stablecoin balance retention will indicate whether consumer-facing stablecoin infrastructure is gaining traction.

PayPal's PYUSD adoption trajectory. PayPal's stock weakness and restructuring create uncertainty about execution. Monitor PYUSD transaction volumes, merchant onboarding, and whether PayPal's organizational changes accelerate or impede stablecoin adoption.

EU digital euro deployment timeline and impact on Open USD. The digital euro poses a structural risk to the thesis in European markets. Track ECB announcements on CBDC rollout and any regulatory guidance on how private stablecoins will coexist with a digital euro.

Visa and Mastercard's short-term messaging versus long-term action. Visa's CFO skepticism contradicts the company's strategic commitment to Open USD. Monitor whether executive messaging shifts as stablecoin settlement volumes grow, or whether the disconnect persists.

Related Arbora context

This development intersects with the thesis on tokenized deposit networks and bank stablecoin competition (concept-tokenized-deposit-bank-stablecoin-competition). JPMorgan, Citi, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo are building a competing Tokenized Deposit Network through The Clearing House. Open USD's success in capturing payment-network adoption could pressure banks to accelerate their own tokenized-deposit rollout or join the Open USD coalition. The two initiatives represent parallel but distinct paths: Open USD is a private stablecoin backed by payment networks and fintech firms, while the Tokenized Deposit Network is a bank-controlled settlement layer. The coexistence of both suggests that the payments infrastructure is fragmenting into multiple on-chain settlement rails rather than consolidating around a single standard.

The thesis also relates to fintech deregulation and consolidation (concept-fintech-deregulation-consolidation-wave). Open USD's revenue-sharing model and multi-stakeholder governance could accelerate M&A activity among fintech firms and payment processors seeking to integrate into the Open USD ecosystem. Companies excluded from the coalition may face pressure to consolidate with or acquire stablecoin-native infrastructure to remain competitive.

Sources

This article is research notes, not financial advice.