The Open USD dollar stablecoin coalition has officially launched, with its core innovation being a reallocation of reserve yield: the interest earned on reserve assets, traditionally kept solely by issuers like Circle, will now be distributed to coalition participants. This directly undermines Circle’s profitability—USDC’s primary revenue source is precisely the interest from its reserves. If Open USD succeeds in attracting major payment firms and fintech companies, Circle may face a significant exodus of users and partners.
Looking back, Facebook’s Libra stablecoin project in 2019 failed due to global regulatory concerns over monetary sovereignty and financial stability. Seven years later, regulatory frameworks (e.g., MiCA, U.S. stablecoin bills), blockchain infrastructure (Layer 2s, interoperability protocols), and commercial adoption have all matured substantially. The Open USD coalition takes a more pragmatic and compliant approach, aiming to avoid Libra’s pitfalls while vying for control over the next-generation dollar payment rail.