Partnership with Open Standards, whose members include Visa and Mastercard
Institutional platform to support OUSD custody
Wavebridge said Wednesday it has joined Open Standards, a global stablecoin network, and begun offering custody services for OUSD, a dollar-pegged stablecoin.
After signing a network partner agreement with Open Standards, Wavebridge began supporting OUSD custody on Oct. 15 through Wavebridge Prime, its institutional prime brokerage platform.
OUSD is a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, issued across four blockchain networks — Ethereum, Solana, Base and Tempo. Bridge, a subsidiary of Stripe, handles issuance, while BlackRock, BNY and Lead Bank manage the reserves.
Open Standards is the entity that designed and operates OUSD. Five global companies — Coinbase, Visa, Mastercard, Shopify and Stripe — serve as key partners, and more than 200 financial institutions and fintech firms worldwide have also joined the network.
Open Standards operates as an open network with multiple participants rather than a single controlling company. Network partners pay no fees during OUSD issuance or dollar redemption and receive a share of related revenue based on their contribution to expanding usage.
Through the agreement, Wavebridge will provide OUSD custody services to institutional and corporate clients. The company plans to expand the service so that clients can also exchange their OUSD holdings within the same platform.
Earlier this year, in April, Wavebridge began supporting custody for 11 stablecoins across six currency zones — the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen, Singapore dollar, Brazilian real and Australian dollar. The addition of OUSD brings the total to 12 supported stablecoins.
Wavebridge expects that once the relevant regulatory regime is in place, OUSD could be used for corporate cross-border trade payments and settlement. The company is currently conducting proof-of-concept work on stablecoins with domestic financial institutions and card companies, and is also preparing a stablecoin-based foreign exchange trading service.
"OUSD is a stablecoin designed and grown directly by global payment networks and financial institutions, which makes it a practical gateway for Korean corporate clients to connect with global payment infrastructure," said Oh Jong-wook, CEO of Wavebridge. "We have laid the groundwork for domestic institutions to join the global stablecoin ecosystem as early participants."
Meanwhile, Wavebridge recently co-published a white paper on domestic digital asset spot ETFs with eight institutions, including Hanwha Asset Management, Meritz Securities and FnGuide.
kyoung@heraldcorp.com
