South Korean companies listed among the partners in Open USD have come out to deny a formal role in the alliance. Open USD was announced on June 30th, listing 140-plus partners, including financial heavyweights such as Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, American Express, BlackRock, and Coinbase, among others.
Thirteen Korean firms appeared on the list, including Upbit exchange operator Dunamu, spanning Samsung Electronics, Shinhan Financial Group, KakaoBank, K Bank, Hanwha Life, and seven card issuers. A number of the companies said Thursday they had no formal talks about the Open USD, and only learned about their inclusion in the alliance through news reports.
South Korean firms remain in the dark over role in the alliance
A Samsung Electronics official told a local news outlet, Chosun Biz, that there had been “no official consultations” and that the company did not know what role it would play in the consortium. Some of the firms, including Dunamu, Shinhan Financial, and K Bank, confirmed that Open Standard had asked whether they were interested, and that they had replied only with a willingness to review the proposal.
“We only learned about our inclusion in the OUSD alliance through domestic news,” said one unnamed company official. “We are perplexed to be included as a member.” The revelations from the Korean firms strike right at Open USD’s biggest marketing weapon. Open USD was quickly touted as a big rival for USDT and USDC, amid the long list of financial heavyweights named as its partners.
Circle (CRCL) fell over 15% on the day of the announcement. With Coinbase listed among the Open USD partners, there was also speculation on what that could mean for Circle and USDC, which have long had the U.S. exchange as a major partner. But Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire affirmed that nothing has changed about their partnership with Coinbase. “Our stablecoin partnership with Coinbase remains as strong as ever,” Allaire precisely noted.
