140-Company Consortium Unveils Open USD

A 140-company consortium wants to disrupt Circle and Tether’s money printing machine.

Open Standard, a group of more than 140 financial and technology firms whose backers include Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock, and Coinbase, unveiled Open USD, a partner-governed stablecoin whose reserve earnings and governance go to the businesses that adopt it, spreading economics a lone issuer normally keeps. OUSD is slated to launch later in 2026.

The design targets the exact reason banks and fintechs have hesitated to push existing stablecoins: adopting one hands the float and the customer relationship to a competitor. By pooling issuance and returning the yield to distributors, the consortium is betting that shared economics pull adoption that a single issuer's brand cannot. Whether 140 members can agree on governance is a harder test.

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WATCH

Why Wall Street's Biggest Traders Are Abandoning Crypto for Prediction Markets

This week's Defiant Voices interview looks at the fastest-moving corner of the market. Alex Momot, co-founder of market-maker Peanut Trade, joins Camila Russo to explain why the largest trading desks are piling into prediction markets — the mechanics, the opportunity, and the risks of a market scaling faster than its oversight.

PARTNER

A full walkthrough of Bron, a self-custody wallet built to keep your holdings private; even from itself.

TRADFI AND FINTECH

Open Standard Unveils Open USD, a Bank- and Tech-Backed Stablecoin Governed by Its Users

Open Standard, a consortium of more than 140 financial and technology companies, introduced Open USD, a dollar stablecoin governed by its users. Reserve earnings and governance go to the businesses that adopt OUSD, spreading economics a single issuer normally captures; backers include Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock, and Coinbase. The token is slated to launch later in 2026.

Why this matters: A distributor-owned stablecoin attacks the float economics that built Tether and Circle. If adopters keep the yield, the incentive to switch is baked in.

TRADFI AND FINTECH

Securitize Shareholders Approve Merger, Paving Way for First Publicly Traded Tokenization Company

Cantor Equity Partners II shareholders approved the business combination with Securitize, clearing the tokenization platform behind BlackRock's BUIDL fund to close July 1 and list on the NYSE on July 2 under ticker SECZ — the first publicly traded tokenization company in the US.

Why this matters: A public listing gives tokenization infrastructure a market price and a currency for M&A. Securitize sets the comp for every RWA platform behind it.

DEFI

Magic Eden, Founders Sued by $ME Buyers Over Broken 'Utility' Promises

A nationwide class action in New York accuses Magic Eden and its four co-founders of marketing the $ME token's use cases, then delaying or abandoning them as the token fell roughly 99% from launch. The suit adds the NFT marketplace to a growing list of token issuers facing US investor litigation over unmet utility promises.

Why this matters: Utility promises are becoming a legal liability. If "ship it later" reads as a securities claim, every roadmap-driven token launch is exposed.

MARKETS

Lighter to Burn Repurchased LIT, Fund Staking from Ecosystem Reserve

Lighter, the perpetuals exchange, will start burning the LIT it buys back with revenue and tap its token reserve to keep staking yields flowing. The switch turns fee revenue into a supply sink for LIT while the ecosystem reserve underwrites staking rewards during the transition.

Why this matters: Burning bought-back tokens ties supply to real usage. Funding yield from reserves buys time, but only sustained volume makes the model durable.

DEFI

Machi Big Brother's Hyperliquid Losses Top $80M as He Sells Bored Apes for Margin

Machi Big Brother's losses on Hyperliquid topped $80 million after his latest Ethereum liquidation, the first in a months-long losing streak to hit without a fresh deposit backstopping it. The trader has been selling Bored Apes to raise margin as the position bled onchain.

Why this matters: Public onchain liquidations are becoming crypto's spectator sport. The transparency that makes Hyperliquid legible also turns one trader's ruin into a live feed.