Several Korean firms dispute Open USD alliance membership

Several major South Korean companies have said they were listed as members of the Open USD (OUSD) stablecoin alliance despite not formally agreeing to participate.

According to a report by Chosun Biz, several Korean companies named as participants in the Open USD consortium said they had not held official discussions with the project’s issuer and only became aware of their inclusion after local media reports.

The report said Open Standard announced on June 30 that it had introduced OUSD, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin scheduled for launch later this year. The organization said around 140 financial and payment companies from around the world, including Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock, Google and several South Korean firms, would join the consortium. Rather than operating as a decentralized autonomous organization or an equity-based venture, the consortium is expected to function as a cooperative network.

Among the Korean companies listed were Samsung Electronics, Dunamu, Shinhan Financial Group, KakaoBank, K Bank, Hyundai Card, KB Kookmin Card, BC Card, Hana Card, Samsung Card, Woori Card, NH Nonghyup Card and Hanwha.

Several of those companies, however, disputed the implication that they had officially joined.

Samsung Electronics told Chosun Biz it had not held formal consultations with Open Standard and did not know what role it would have within the consortium. Dunamu, Shinhan Financial Group and K Bank also said they had only been asked whether they would be interested in participating and had responded that they would review the proposal.

One company representative told the publication the firm only learned it had been identified as a consortium member through domestic news coverage. The representative added that its response to Open Standard had simply been that it would consider participation if the project developed further, making the company’s inclusion unexpected.

OUSD proposes shared reserve revenue model

Open Standard said OUSD is being developed as a payment and settlement stablecoin operated collectively by participating companies instead of being controlled by a single issuer.

According to the company, participating firms will be able to mint OUSD by depositing U.S. dollars into Open Standard’s reserve account and redeem tokens by returning them to the issuer. The company also said consortium members will be able to mint and redeem OUSD without fees or volume limits.

The project’s revenue model also differs from existing stablecoin issuers. Open Standard said reserve income generated from assets backing OUSD will be distributed to participating partners after operating costs are deducted, unlike issuers such as Tether and Circle, which retain reserve earnings.

Following Open Standard’s announcement that about 140 global companies would participate, Chosun Biz reported that some participants in South Korea’s digital asset industry suggested the project could emerge as a challenger to the stablecoin market currently dominated by Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC. However, statements from several companies indicate that at least some of the announced participants have not formally committed to joining the consortium.