Circle shares skid after BlackRock-led consortium unveils revenue-sharing stablecoin
Circle Internet Group stock plunged more than 17% Tuesday after the launch of a new revenue-sharing stablecoin backed by a consortium that includes BlackRock, Google, Visa, Coinbase and 140+ other companies.
Market snapshot
- Circle closed at $62.65, down 17.52% from the prior session, after trading as low as $62.52 intraday.
- The stock opened at $72.25 and slid throughout the day before stabilizing near its low.
- Trading volume surged to over 34.5 million shares, well above Circle’s average daily volume of ~14 million, as investors reacted to the new entrant.
What launched: Open USD (OUSD)
The new token, Open USD (OUSD), was developed by Open Standard, an industry initiative led by Zach Abrams (co-founder of Bridge). The network is supported by more than 140 firms across finance and technology, including heavyweights BlackRock, Google, Visa and Coinbase.
How OUSD is different
- Fee-free minting and redemption for users.
- Most reserve income is distributed to participating ecosystem members rather than accruing to a single issuer.
- Governance is handled by an independent, partner-led organization instead of one issuing company.
Why it matters
This design directly challenges a core element of Circle’s business model: stablecoin issuers traditionally keep reserve income. Open USD’s revenue-sharing approach resembles Paxos’ Global Dollar Network, which also shares reserve revenue with partners. As stablecoins expand beyond crypto trading into cross-border payments, merchant settlement and corporate treasury use, issuers are experimenting with different economic models to attract banks, payment firms and fintechs.
Circle’s response
CEO Jeremy Allaire downplayed the threat to USDC, saying the market can support multiple major issuers and reiterating Circle’s plans to keep growing USDC’s institutional network. Allaire emphasized continued investment in interoperability and partnerships across banking, payments and capital markets, and said the firm will look for more ways to let partners participate economically in USDC’s growth. “USDC remains the most trusted, widely adopted, institutional-ready stablecoin in the world, and we count thousands of institutions as partners in our ecosystem across nearly every major sector,” he said.
What investors are watching
Tuesday’s sell-off shows how sensitive markets are to alternative stablecoin economic models. With backing from some of the largest names in finance and tech, Open USD represents a well-funded competitor at a time when institutional adoption and payment market share are the stakes. Market participants will be watching whether revenue-sharing tokens can win institutional trust and carve meaningful share from incumbent issuers like Circle.
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