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Bluechip Quoted in CoinDesk Article on Open USD and Circle

Bluechip
7.8.2026
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Bluechip's Ratings Director Amey Dandawate was quoted in CoinDesk this week on why the launch of Open USD rattled Circle's share price, and why the consortium's biggest backers still stand behind USDC.

Read the article on CoinDesk: Open USD rattled Circle's stock, but its key backers still support USDC

 

Open USD and Circle

 

Open Standard launched the Open USD stablecoin at the end of June 2026 with more than 140 partners, including Coinbase, Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, and BlackRock. Markets read that list as a co-ordinated strike on USDC, and Circle shares fell as much as 20% no recovery since. Second quarter earnings season then gave the same partners a chance to explain themselves, and what they said was far less confrontational than the selloff implied.

On the second quarter earnings calls,

  • Coinbase said they have already met the conditions to renew its commercial agreement with Circle, calling itself a multi-stablecoin platform.
  • Visa said they are a multi-stablecoin and multi-blockchain network, remarking that picking winners is not the job of a neutral payments network.
  • Mastercard said they already support USDC and USDG, treating OUSD as one more stablecoin to enable transactions across its network.

 

"A free option"

 

Bluechip's Ratings Director Amey Dandawate told CoinDesk that consortium membership is "a free option." Partners get exposure if Open USD gains traction, without committing distribution, balance sheet or exclusivity today. That is sound product strategy, but it is not a bet against USDC.

Other analysts in the piece landed in similar territory. ARK Invest called partner commitment closer to a soft letter of intent than a strategic bet. Clear Street argued the market overreacted, since USDC already holds deep liquidity and entrenched network effects. Dragonfly pointed to Stripe as the real engine of governance, noting that card networks like Visa have commercial reasons to stay neutral.

Mastercard's chief executive conceded that governance will not include all 140 plus partners, because nothing would move if it did. So the long partner list merely signals distribution ambition, not intention or governance control. 

Open Standard says more details will follow at launch later this year. But until then, the size of the partner list is not indicative of the potential to capture market share from USDC.

 

The Bluechip View

 

Bluechip rates stablecoins independently using the SMIDGE framework. For consortium-led stablecoins, governance and management of the operating company are considered relevant to the rating. Any external support provided by the consortium members does not carry extra weight since such commitment is optional, and can be withdrawn at any time.

When Open USD publishes all relevant details closer to launch, Bluechip will assess the stablecoin on the same basis as every other fiat-backed stablecoin we cover.

 

Read more

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