OUSD Supply on Ethereum Tops $100M in First Week

Open USD (OUSD), the fiat-backed stablecoin issued by Bridge, a Stripe subsidiary, grew to more than $100 million on Ethereum in its first week, up from about $10 million. The increase was driven mainly by minting from founding partners including Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe and Visa. OUSD’s total supply across all chains reached about $666 million by 5 October 2026, while reported transfer volume stood at $2.6 billion. However, the token had only around 554–613 holders, and its top 10 wallets controlled about 74% of supply. Decentralised exchange (DEX) trading remained limited, at roughly $4.1 million across chains during the first six days. The stablecoin is backed by reserves held at BlackRock, Lead Bank and BNY Mellon. Businesses can mint and redeem OUSD at a 1:1 rate with no stated fees or volume limits. For traders, OUSD’s rapid Ethereum growth signals early institutional adoption, but concentrated ownership and thin DEX liquidity may increase slippage and make available market liquidity sensitive to large holders. Holder growth, wallet concentration and DEX volume are key metrics to monitor.
Neutral
OUSD’s rapid expansion on Ethereum is a positive adoption signal, especially given the involvement of major payments and crypto firms. However, the reported growth appears largely partner- and institution-led rather than driven by broad retail demand. The relatively small holder count, top-10 wallet concentration of about 74%, and roughly $4.1 million in early DEX volume suggest that open-market liquidity remains limited despite $2.6 billion in transfers. In the short term, the news is unlikely to create a clear directional signal for ETH or the wider crypto market. OUSD is a stablecoin, and its 1:1 mint-and-redemption mechanism is designed to support its peg. Still, large holders’ actions could affect local liquidity, while thin DEX markets may expose traders to higher slippage. The article reports no depeg or other immediate stress event. Over the longer term, sustained growth in OUSD holders, trading activity and distribution across wallets could strengthen its role in Ethereum payments and liquidity. This resembles early growth patterns seen in institution-backed stablecoins: supply and transfer metrics can rise quickly through partner activity, while deeper, more distributed market use takes longer to establish. Traders should distinguish transfer volume from genuine exchange demand and monitor liquidity, concentration and peg performance before treating the supply increase as a broad bullish catalyst.