Stellar Signs On as Open USD Launch Partner

Stellar's native token $XLM climbed roughly 10% over 24 hours after the Stellar Development Foundation joined the launch of Open USD as both a launch partner and Open Standard participant. The move ties one of crypto's most established payments-focused blockchains to what is shaping up to be the most broadly backed stablecoin debut in the industry's history.

More than 140 companies, including Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, BlackRock and Coinbase, have joined Open Standard to launch Open USD (OUSD), a new stablecoin that shares most of the earnings from its reserves. The project is led by founding CEO Zach Abrams, co-founder of Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure startup acquired by Stripe for $1.1 billion in 2024.

The coin is designed to address longstanding complaints about the stablecoin industry: high fees for minting and redeeming tokens at scale, issuers that keep the interest earned on reserves, and a lack of input from the businesses actually using the coins. Open Standard said businesses will be able to mint and redeem Open USD without fees or volume limits, while most of the income generated by its reserves will be distributed to participating businesses after a small management fee.

A Broad Coalition, and What It Means for $XLM

The 140-plus partners span four main categories: payment networks and processors such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Stripe, and Western Union; financial institutions including BlackRock, BNY, Standard Chartered, DBS, and U.S. Bank; technology and commerce firms such as Google, Samsung Electronics, IBM, Shopify, and DoorDash; and crypto ecosystem players including Coinbase and Solana.

Open USD will be managed by an independent organization with governance shared among partner companies, rather than a single controlling issuer. The announcement had an immediate ripple effect across markets, with Circle shares falling sharply on the day as traders priced in OUSD as a direct competitor to USDC.

For Stellar, the partnership reinforces the network's positioning as institutional payments infrastructure. Stellar's speed, low fees, compliance tools, and anchor network provide financial institutions the infrastructure needed to tokenize assets while maintaining regulatory compliance. The Open USD partnership adds to a string of recent institutional milestones for the network. In May 2026, the DTCC announced plans to connect its tokenized securities platform to Stellar, with XLM designated as the settlement token and live assets targeted for the first half of 2027, covering Russell 1000 equities and U.S. Treasury bonds.

Open USD is expected to go live later in 2026, with issuance planned across Solana, Stellar, Base, and Polygon.

Sources:
The Block: Visa, Stripe, Coinbase and more join Open USD stablecoin
CoinDesk: DTCC taps Stellar for tokenized securities network
Crypto Briefing: Dozens of major companies join Open USD as launch partners