---
title: "Circle Slides as Stripe, Coinbase and BlackRock Launch a Rival Stablecoin"
description: "Circle's stock fell about 8% after a consortium of more than 140 companies — Visa, Stripe, Coinbase, BlackRock, Mastercard and Google among them — unveiled a rival stablecoin, 'Open USD,' that would share its reserve income with partners rather than letting one issuer keep it. It's a direct shot at Circle's USDC business model."
category: "Crypto"
category_url: https://boursel.com/category/crypto
author: "Daniel Okonkwo"
published: 2026-06-30T14:43:40.000Z
updated: 2026-06-30T14:43:40.000Z
canonical: https://boursel.com/article/circle-slides-as-stripe-coinbase-and-blackrock-launch-a-rival-stablecoin
tags: ["circle", "usdc", "stablecoins", "coinbase", "crypto"]
---
# Circle Slides as Stripe, Coinbase and BlackRock Launch a Rival Stablecoin

Circle's stock fell about 8% after a consortium of more than 140 companies — Visa, Stripe, Coinbase, BlackRock, Mastercard and Google among them — unveiled a rival stablecoin, 'Open USD,' that would share its reserve income with partners rather than letting one issuer keep it. It's a direct shot at Circle's USDC business model.

Circle just got a taste of how fast its lead can be challenged. Shares of **Circle Internet Group** — issuer of the **USDC** stablecoin — fell about **8%** after a heavyweight consortium unveiled a competing stablecoin designed to attack the very thing that makes Circle profitable, [CoinDesk reported](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/06/30/circle-slides-8-as-stripe-coinbase-and-blackrock-back-rival-stablecoin-network).

## What was announced

A group called **Open Standard** — backed by **more than 140 companies**, including **Visa, Stripe, Coinbase, BlackRock, Mastercard, Google (Alphabet), BNY Mellon and Klarna** — is launching a stablecoin called **"Open USD,"** [Bloomberg reported](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-30/visa-stripe-among-firms-joining-forces-on-mainstream-stablecoin). It's run by a venture led by **Zach Abrams**, a co-founder of **Bridge**, the stablecoin-infrastructure firm Stripe acquired. The coin is slated to go live later this year.

(Quick refresher: a **stablecoin** is a crypto token pegged one-to-one to a currency like the dollar, used for payments and settlement without the wild swings of bitcoin. The issuer holds **reserves** — typically cash and US Treasury bills — backing every token.)

## Why it threatens Circle

Here's the crux. Circle makes its money by **investing the reserves** that back USDC — about **$73 billion** worth — in Treasuries and **keeping the interest.** Open USD flips that model: it would let partners **mint and redeem tokens cheaply while sharing out the reserve income** among the consortium, rather than one issuer pocketing it. In other words, it attacks **exactly where Circle earns its profit.**

The sharpest signal is **Coinbase's** involvement. Coinbase has a lucrative **revenue-sharing deal with Circle** on USDC — yet it's also backing the rival. The read: Coinbase may see more upside in **owning a piece of the new network** than in depending on Circle's arrangement. That's why the stock fell.

## The bigger picture

Stablecoins have become one of the **hottest battlegrounds** in finance because the underlying business — earning yield on reserves — is genuinely lucrative, especially with interest rates elevated. US legislation (the **GENIUS Act**) and the EU's **MiCA** rules have given the sector a clearer legal footing, and now the **giants are piling in**: payments networks (Visa, Stripe, Mastercard), an asset manager (BlackRock), Big Tech (Google) and exchanges (Coinbase) — not as customers, but as **owners** of the rails.

This isn't Circle's first scare. Boursel has tracked the sector's swings, including an earlier slump in Circle's stock on **regulatory worries** about whether issuers could keep paying yield. The difference now is that the threat is **concrete and well-funded**, not theoretical.

## Why it matters

For **Circle**, the question is whether its **first-mover lead** with USDC — a real, $73-billion head start — can withstand a consortium of the world's biggest payment and finance names building an alternative. For the **stablecoin market**, the move points toward a future where the economics are **shared across many players** rather than captured by a single issuer — which may appeal to the institutions deciding which coin to use. And for the broader story Boursel follows, it's another sign that **stablecoins are going mainstream** — pulling in the largest names in money, and turning a once-niche crypto product into contested **financial infrastructure.** Boursel offers no view on Circle's shares; the takeaway is that owning the dollar's digital plumbing is now a **fight among giants.**

## Sources

- [Circle slides 8% as Stripe, Coinbase and BlackRock back rival stablecoin network](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/06/30/circle-slides-8-as-stripe-coinbase-and-blackrock-back-rival-stablecoin-network)
- [Visa, Stripe among firms joining forces on a mainstream stablecoin](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-30/visa-stripe-among-firms-joining-forces-on-mainstream-stablecoin)