The Pi Network Core Team has announced a partnership with Open Standard, the company behind the newly launched Open USD (OUSD) stablecoin, just hours after OUSD went live on September 30, 2026. The timing has drawn particular attention because OUSD debuted with heavyweight support from Visa, Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify and Stripe, which are the five founding partners of Open Standard and each hold an equal starting equity stake.
Open USD launched natively on Ethereum, Solana, Coinbase’s Base network and Stripe’s Tempo network. The five founding partners have committed more than $1 billion in near-term launch liquidity, and the token can already be accessed through exchanges including Coinbase, Kraken and Uniswap. Open Standard says its wider network now includes more than 200 financial institutions, fintechs, banks and global businesses, with new participants such as Japan’s SBI Holdings, Swiss bank UBS and fintech firm Jeeves.
Open Standard CEO Zach Abrams said the goal is to make OUSD behave like regular money rather than another investment product. “We want to be the most useful stablecoin, the same way the U.S. dollar is useful,” Abrams said. The stablecoin will not charge fees for minting or redeeming tokens, and partners can earn rewards tied to the OUSD supply and activity they generate. “The overwhelming majority of our cap table is going to be distributed back to founders and non-founders based on how they help grow the network,” Abrams added.
For Pi Network, the collaboration could eventually bring OUSD-based rewards and additional utility to its large Pioneer ecosystem, though the Core Team has not yet confirmed whether OUSD will be natively supported on its blockchain or how a reward program would work. Pi said the two parties are exploring ways to bring OUSD-created rewards and broader utility to Pi users, potentially a meaningful step toward real-world activity inside the network.
The launch arrives as the stablecoin market is worth more than $300 billion. Tether’s USDT leads with about $143 billion in circulation, while Circle’s USDC follows with roughly $74 billion. The new model is already putting pressure on Circle: Mizuho cut its Circle price target from $85 to $50 and downgraded the stock from Neutral to Underperform, citing competition from Open USD. Mizuho also raised its estimate for Circle’s 2027 distribution and transaction expense ratio from 64% to 73%, and lowered adjusted earnings forecasts from $1.09 billion to $699 million.
