Open USD is lying about its 149 partnerships, report
Stablecoin newcomer Open USD (OUSD), hasn’t actually inked a deal with 149 companies, despite what it claimed when it launched this week.
OUSD was created by Open Standard, which claimed earlier this week that a consortium of firms had “signed up” to use it.
The firm’s CEO, Zach Abrams, said, “We’re thrilled to bring together over 140 businesses to launch Open USD. It’s a stablecoin built for the internet economy, designed by the businesses growing it.”
However, the South Korean news outlet Chosun Biz reports that several of the South Korea-based firms listed haven’t actually signed up for anything.
An official for Samsung Electronics told the outlet, “There were no official consultations, and we do not know what role we will play (in the alliance).”
Read more: Crypto censorship tracker shows 3.7B frozen stablecoins and counting
Listed firms, including Shinhan Financial Group, Dunamu, and K-Bank, all claimed that they were approached by Open Standard, but that they only promised to review the stablecoin and hadn’t reached any sort of deal.
An unnamed corporate official from one of the firms said, “I only learned about being included in the OUSD alliance through domestic news,” adding that they were “bewildered” to have been included.
They claimed that their firm’s response to Open Standard’s inquiry was “merely a light ‘we will review it if things go well.’”
More listed firms outside Korea haven’t signed up with OUSD
Back in the US, OpenAssets founder Gabor Gurbacs took note of these reports and subsequently discovered that several of his clients, which are listed as OUSD partners, claim to have never signed anything.
Read more: Tether vs. Circle: The battle for stablecoin dominance
Confused, Gurbacs said, “Either the media deeply twisted something or the participant list is misleading.”
He claims one of the firms was informed that Stripe and Visa would accept the stablecoin, and that because of this, it might interact with the stablecoin in the future.
However, he stressed, “no contracts or anything just discussions.”
There are indeed genuine partnerships within the list, as Open Standard shares quotes from executives working for the likes of Mastercard, Stripe, Shopify, Coinbase, BlackRock, Visa, Fireblocks, Félix, DoorDash, Chime, BNY, BBVA, and Adyen.
Circle, a major stablecoin firm with over $70 billion worth of its USDC in circulation, saw its stock collapse 17% when OUSD was announced with its apparent 149-firm backing.
OUSD is trying to establish a consortium of firms that it won’t charge to mint or redeem tokens. Partnered firms will also benefit from the interest accrued on the reserves backing OUSD.
Protos has reached out to Samsung Electronics and Open Standard for comment and will update this piece should we hear anything back.
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