HTX Ventures Analyzes the Shift Toward Participant-Governed Stablecoins

The technical layer of blockchain has matured into open, programmable infrastructure, but the economic layer remains fragmented. While stablecoin issuers currently capture reserve yields exclusively, the introduction of Open USD (OUSD) seeks to reallocate these benefits. By shifting from bilateral commercial agreements to a network-wide revenue-sharing model, the OUSD framework invites participants—including Visa, Mastercard, and BlackRock—to contribute to liquidity and compliance in exchange for a direct stake in governance and yield.

Institutional Shifts in Infrastructure

HTX Ventures identifies three fundamental changes in this design: the transition from fee-based access to subsidized distribution, the move from bilateral negotiations to collective revenue sharing, and the shift from centralized issuer governance to participant-led rule-making. This design aims to lower the barrier for regional banks and payment companies to integrate stablecoins into their core operations. However, the model’s long-term success hinges on how revenue-sharing mechanisms are weighted. If payouts favor simple capital volume, they risk manipulation; a sustainable system must prioritize actual payment activity, customer acquisition, and regional compliance investments.

As the industry evolves, the competition is shifting away from pure issuance scale toward the control of customer relationships and data. The emergence of consortium-based infrastructure suggests that financial institutions are increasingly willing to share returns to avoid ceding control to a single dominant competitor. For traditional banks and payment processors, this represents a pragmatic move to secure their position in the next generation of financial rails, where power is increasingly defined by who contributes the most value to the network.