Coinbase, Visa Insist OpenUSD Won't Replace USDC Amid Market Anxiety
The emergence of OpenUSD has sent shockwaves through the stablecoin market, wiping out tens of trillions of won from Circle's valuation. Major backers Coinbase, Visa, and Mastercard are now scrambling to contain market anxiety by insisting that OpenUSD is 'not a USDC replacement.'
Coinbase Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas stated during the company's second-quarter earnings call that it has already met the conditions for renewing its agreement with Circle and will continue to expand the USDC ecosystem going forward. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong characterized his company as a 'multi-stablecoin platform' that supports Tether's USDT and PayPal's PYUSD in addition to USDC, adding that OpenUSD 'will create additional business and revenue opportunities.'
Visa CEO Ryan McInerney emphasized that Visa is a 'multi-coin, multi-chain' company, noting that its role is not to pick winners but to help connect customers regardless of which stablecoin they adopt. Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach explained that his company supports multiple stablecoins, including USDC and the Paxos-led Global Dollar Network (USDG), and sees OpenUSD as just another coin it will support on its network.
Analysts suggest that OpenUSD's star-studded launch partner list may have been somewhat overestimated. Lorenzo Valente, Director of Digital Asset Research at ARK Invest, pointed out that 'it is becoming increasingly clear that the commitment level of OpenUSD partners is closer to a loose letter of intent (LOI) than a strategic bet.'