What is Open USD (OUSD)?

Open USD (OUSD) is a US dollar stablecoin designed for global money movement. It combines no-cost minting and redemption with shared reserve economics and governance shaped by the businesses that use it.

Like other dollar-denominated stablecoins, OUSD lets businesses hold and move dollar value on a blockchain. Its design focuses on three questions for businesses using stablecoins at scale: what it costs to move between dollars and stablecoins, who receives the revenue from reserves, and how decisions about the stablecoin are made.

Who is behind OUSD

Open Standard is the independent company behind OUSD. Its founding partners include Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe, and Visa.

Open Standard governs and operates OUSD, while Bridge Building Inc. is its issuer. These are distinct roles: Open Standard establishes the shared economic and governance model, and Bridge provides issuance infrastructure.

How OUSD works

OUSD is backed by reserves. The OUSD reserve dashboard shows holdings of cash and US Treasuries. Open Standard's launch announcement names BlackRock, Lead Bank, and BNY as institutions holding the reserves.

Businesses access OUSD through providers that support minting and redemption at a 1:1 US dollar conversion rate:

1. Minting: A business converts US dollars into OUSD through a supported provider.
2. Transferring: OUSD moves between wallets on a supported blockchain, allowing businesses to send payments or move funds between accounts.
3. Redemption: A business converts OUSD back into US dollars. The redeemed tokens are removed from circulation through a process called burning.

Open Standard's integration paths offer minting and burning at no cost. That applies to conversion into and out of OUSD. Network fees and charges for other provider services are separate.

How reserve revenue is shared

The assets held in a stablecoin's reserves can generate revenue. OUSD's model shares nearly all of that revenue with the companies growing its adoption.

According to Open Standard's launch announcement, partners earn rewards in proportion to the OUSD supply and activity they drive on their platforms. For a payment provider or financial platform, this creates a way to participate in the economics of the stablecoin it distributes and uses.

Businesses must sign up as Open Standard partners to earn these rewards. Rewards are part of that partner relationship, rather than an automatic return for anyone holding OUSD.

How governance is structured

Open Standard is designed to give participating businesses a role in OUSD's direction. Its published governance structure calls for a board of directors drawn from its founders and representing its shareholders.

Founders and participating partners have the opportunity to earn equity based on the supply and activity they generate. The aim is to give businesses contributing to OUSD's adoption a stake in the company and a voice in how the infrastructure develops.

What businesses can use OUSD for

OUSD is designed for financial activity across payments, settlement, treasury, and trading. These uses include:

• Payments and payouts: Fund accounts, pay suppliers, and send funds to customers or other recipients.
• Settlement: Move dollar value between businesses and financial platforms using a shared onchain asset.
• Treasury: Hold operating balances and move funds between accounts as payment needs change.
• Trading: Use OUSD as a dollar-denominated asset on supported trading venues.

The stablecoin is one part of these workflows. The blockchain determines how the onchain transfer settles, while providers handle services such as custody, currency conversion, and delivery to bank accounts. Onchain settlement and receipt of funds in a bank account are separate steps.

How to access OUSD

Open Standard lists integration options through Stripe, Bridge, Privy, Mastercard, Coinbase, and Visa. Businesses complete onboarding and account setup with their selected provider, and access depends on that provider's terms, eligibility requirements, and geographic coverage.

OUSD is supported natively on Base, Ethereum, Solana, and Tempo. Open Standard's integration page lists the official contract addresses and current access options. Provider support can vary by network and service.

Put OUSD to work on Tempo

Tempo brings together native OUSD, near-instant onchain settlement, and sub-cent network fees on a blockchain built for payments. OUSD launched on Tempo with $400M+ in liquidity, deployed with partners across decentralized exchanges, stablecoin swaps, and bridges.

Businesses can use OUSD on Tempo to fund accounts, hold operating balances, make payments and payouts, and swap into other supported stablecoins. Infrastructure partners support these flows across ramps, wallets, custody, security, and liquidity.

To put OUSD to work across payments, settlement, and treasury, explore OUSD on Tempo or get in touch to discuss your integration.