Coinbase, Visa, Mastercard Say Backing OUSD Doesn’t Replace USDC

Circle shares tumbled after the launch of OpenUSD, or OUSD, but the company’s key partners have reiterated their support for USDC.

CoinDesk reported on August 4 that when The Open Platform announced OUSD about a month ago, markets viewed the participation of Coinbase, Visa and Mastercard as a direct challenge to USDC. Circle shares fell as much as 20% and have yet to recover. Concerns deepened after the group unveiled more than 140 launch partners, fueling speculation that major USDC commercial partners were shifting to a rival stablecoin network.

In recent earnings calls, however, executives at all three companies said they would stick with a multi-stablecoin strategy. Coinbase Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas said the company had already met the terms required to renew its commercial agreement with Circle and would continue expanding the USDC ecosystem. Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong said Coinbase wants to support whatever stablecoins customers choose because it operates as a multi-stablecoin platform. He added that OUSD creates additional business opportunities.

Visa and Mastercard struck a similar tone. Visa Chief Executive Officer Ryan McInerney said the company’s role is to help customers connect regardless of which stablecoin wins adoption, not to pick winners. Mastercard Chief Executive Officer Michael Miebach said the company already supports several stablecoins, including USDC and the Paxos-led Global Dollar Network, or USDG. He said OUSD would be another coin supported on its network.

Some market analysts say the initial reaction was excessive. Lorenzo Valente, ARK Invest’s director of digital asset research, wrote on X that it is becoming increasingly clear OUSD partners’ level of participation looks more like a non-binding letter of intent than a strategic bet. Supporting OUSD is very different from committing meaningful resources, distribution and capital to make it successful, he wrote.

Owen Lau, a managing director at Clear Street, said USDC and Tether’s USDT already benefit from deep liquidity and network effects, making real adoption far more difficult than lining up partners. Coordinating the interests of many partners with different incentives is also very difficult, he added. Dragonfly General Partner Rob Hadick said Visa and Mastercard effectively have to remain neutral because they also work with competing issuers. They may promote OUSD, but they still need to maintain an open stance, he said.