Samsung Electronics and several major Korean financial companies deny formal ties to Open USD, the dollar-pegged stablecoin that launched this week with a claimed alliance of more than 140 corporate partners.
The pushback, first reported by Chosun Biz on July 3, tests the credibility of one of the largest partner rosters ever assembled in the stablecoin sector.
Alleged Open USD stablecoin partner list
Korean Partners Say They Never Signed On
Open Standard announced Open USD (OUSD) on June 30, promising members fee-free minting and a share of reserve income. Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, and Coinbase headline the roster.
The list also names 13 Korean entities, including Samsung Electronics, Dunamu, Shinhan Financial Group, K Bank, and seven card issuers. Within days, at least four of them distanced themselves.
“There were no official consultations, and we do not even know what role we would play (in the consortium),” local media Chosun Biz reported, citing a Samsung Electronics official.
Meanwhile, Shinhan, Dunamu, and KBank said Open Standard had simply floated the idea of joining. They replied that they would review it, yet their names appeared as members.
An official at another listed firm described a similar experience to the outlet.
“We learned that we were included as members of the OUSD consortium through domestic news… We are perplexed to be included as members.”
The case echoes a costly precedent. Facebook’s Libra consortium debuted in 2019 with 28 founding members, including Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe. All three quit within four months, and the renamed Diem sold its assets in 2022.
How Libra Was Killed.
I never shared this publicly before, but since @pmarca opened the floodgates on @joerogan’s pod, it feels appropriate to shed more light on this.
As a reminder, Libra (then Diem) was an advanced, high-performance, payments-centric blockchain paired with a…
The stakes are high because the debut dragged Circle stock down 17% on launch day. Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) control over 80% of a market worth some $311 billion, per DefiLlama data.
OUSD’s revenue sharing could also pressure USDC yields in decentralized finance (DeFi).
Some commitments look firm, however. Stripe Technology President Will Gaybrick confirmed OUSD will become the default stablecoin for businesses on its platform.
That pledge follows Stripe’s $1.1 billion purchase of Bridge, the stablecoin firm founded by Open Standard chief Zach Abrams.
Regarding the OUSD consortium logos, I also spoke to a few companies from the list as a number of them are clients of ours (OpenAssets) and they said they never signed or agreed to anything. Either the media deeply twisted something or the participant list is misleading. https://t.co/xhQa28snBJ
For the Korean firms, caution has context. The debate over stablecoins backed by the South Korean won remains unresolved at home, and listed companies already face tightening domestic crypto rules.
Open Standard has yet to address the Korean accounts or define what partnership means publicly. They have also not immediately responded to BeInCrypto’s request for comment.
