Major Firms Dispute Role in Open USD Consortium
Several prominent South Korean companies have stated they have not formally joined the newly announced Open USD (OUSD) consortium, despite being listed among its participating organizations.
Open Standard, the independent entity behind the stablecoin, had previously announced the formation of a consortium of over 140 businesses to launch OUSD, a dollar-pegged stablecoin, later this year. The initial announcement included a roster of globally recognized companies across various sectors, such as Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock, Google, Ripple, and Standard Chartered. Among the South Korean entities named were Samsung Electronics, Dunamu, Shinhan Financial Group, KakaoBank, K Bank, Hyundai Card, KB Kookmin Card, BC Card, Hana Card, Samsung Card, Woori Card, NH Nonghyup Card, and Hanwha.
However, several of these companies have since contested the nature of their involvement.
According to a report by Chosun Biz, a representative for Samsung Electronics informed the publication that the company had not engaged in any official discussions with the OUSD issuer and was unaware of any potential role it might play within the consortium. Similarly, Shinhan Financial Group, Dunamu, and K Bank indicated that Open Standard had merely inquired about their interest in participating in OUSD, and they had responded by stating they would review the proposal. Their names were reportedly added to the consortium list without any formal commitment.
One company representative further stated that their firm only learned of its inclusion as an alliance member through domestic media reports. This representative added that the company had merely expressed a willingness to consider participation under favorable circumstances and was surprised to find itself listed as a member.
These assertions were later corroborated by Gabor Gurbacs, founder of digital asset firm Pointsville. Gurbacs reported speaking with several companies listed in the OUSD consortium, all of whom informed him that they had never signed or agreed to participate. He suggested that either the media had significantly misrepresented the situation or the published participant list was misleading.
The claims have also ignited a debate on social media platform X. One user characterized the practice of listing companies before deals are finalized as a “classic legitimacy-borrowing” tactic, while another commented that the situation poses a significant credibility risk.
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