On June 30, a consortium of more than 140 companies, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, Google and Coinbase, announced Open USD. The stablecoin offers free minting and redemption, shared governance, and distribution of reserve income to its participants. The announcement caused Circle's shares to fall 17.5% to $62.63, the largest one‑day decline since March and extending the monthly drop to about 39%. Circle's revenue is generated chiefly from interest on the reserves that back USDC, which accounted for roughly 96% of total revenue. By returning that interest to consortium members, Open USD threatens the profit model that underpins Circle's valuation. The consortium, which spans payment networks, banks, technology firms and crypto platforms, is led by Stripe through its subsidiary Open Standard. Open USD will launch natively on Solana later this year and will be integrated with wallets such as MetaMask, lending protocols like Aave, custody providers such as Fireblocks, and merchant services including Shopify. The product targets enterprise treasury and merchant payment use cases, the fastest growing segment for on‑chain dollar transactions. While Circle retains regulatory licences, strong liquidity and a trusted reputation, USDC circulates about $73 billion and the broader stablecoin market is projected to exceed $4 trillion by 2030. Tether's USDT, which dominates offshore and emerging‑market activity, is not directly affected by the consortium's regulated focus. The GENIUS Act, passed in 2025, clarified the legal framework for compliant stablecoins and enabled the revenue‑sharing structure of Open USD. Circle may respond by expanding revenue‑sharing arrangements, pursuing new distribution agreements or advancing its own network initiatives, such as the Arc chain project. The ultimate impact will depend on the speed of Open USD's deployment, the willingness of partners to adopt the new token and the ability of Circle to maintain its regulatory and liquidity advantages.