Stripe launches Open Issuance for firms to issue stablecoins

Stripe on Tuesday unveiled Open Issuance, a platform that lets companies create, issue and manage their own stablecoins, a move the payments firm says will accelerate business use of dollar-linked digital tokens for payments and cross-border transfers. The service, built on infrastructure from Bridge, enables firms to mint and burn tokens, customize smart contracts, choose reserve structures and deploy coins across multiple blockchains, Stripe said. Phantom, a crypto wallet with more than 15 million users, is the first major client to launch a token called CASH on the platform.

Open Issuance gives issuers control over reserve management and liquidity, Stripe said, allowing reserves to be held in cash, U.S. Treasuries or other allocations and managed by institutional partners. Stripe and Bridge named BlackRock, Fidelity, Superstate and Lead Bank as partners that will support asset management and liquidity. The platform also provides a shared liquidity network intended to permit one-for-one swaps between stablecoins issued within the system, addressing a common hurdle for new tokens that must build liquidity from scratch.

Bridge cofounder Zach Abrams, now part of Stripe after the...