What happened?
Stripe’s Bridge launched Open Issuance, a platform that lets businesses mint, burn, and customize their own stablecoins and connect to a shared liquidity network. Phantom Wallet is the first big client with its CASH stablecoin, and other issuers like USDH and tokens linked to MetaMask and others are moving to the platform. Stripe, which acquired Bridge earlier this year, says the service handles security, compliance, reserve management, and liquidity so companies can launch tokens in days.
Who does this affect?
This affects companies that want to control their payment rails — wallets, apps, marketplaces, and fintechs can now issue branded stablecoins for payments, transfers, and DeFi. It also matters to users (for example Phantom’s 15 million users), liquidity providers and asset managers that back reserves, and incumbent stablecoin issuers like Tether and Circle who may face new competition. Regulators, banks, and service providers that handle audits, custody, and compliance will also be closely involved as these new issuers scale.
Why does this matter?
This matters because lowering the barrier to issue digital dollars could speed up stablecoin adoption for payments and cross-border flows, changing where liquidity and settlement happen. A wave of branded stablecoins plus shared liquidity could challenge USDT/USDC dominance, fragment liquidity but also open new payment channels and revenue streams for merchants and wallets. If many businesses adopt this model at scale it could pull in more institutional capital and regulatory attention and help push the stablecoin market toward the multi‑trillion dollar forecasts analysts are discussing.