Stablecoin Competition Shifts from Issuance to Network Value
HTX Ventures has released a report titled 'Open Infrastructure, Closed Financial Rails: Open USD, Revenue Redistribution, and Participant Governance', examining the shifts underway in stablecoin revenue distribution, channel relationships, and governance following the unveiling of Open USD (OUSD) on June 30, 2026.
The report finds that while blockchain technology has established open, global, and programmable technical infrastructure, the industry's next phase will be determined by how participants contest control rights and the allocation of economic benefits.
Stablecoins have moved from settlement tools within crypto trading into instruments for cross-border payments, corporate treasury management, and institutional back-office clearing. Visa's stablecoin settlement pilot reached an annualized run rate of approximately $7 billion by April 2026 across nine blockchains.
The report identifies three institutional shifts in OUSD's design: from fee-based access to subsidized distribution, from bilateral negotiations to network-wide revenue sharing, and from issuer governance to participant governance. OUSD is slated for launch later in 2026 and shares the OUSD code with Origin Protocol's Origin Dollar, launched in 2020.
HTX Ventures notes that along this trajectory, stablecoin competition will move beyond issuance scale and on-chain liquidity toward who contributes network value, who shares infrastructure revenue, who retains customers and data, and who sets operating rules.