Is the Real Formidable Rival USDG!? ─ A Community Running Ahead of Open USD

There exists a community that launched about a year and a half before Open USD and is expanding its economic sphere while increasing the number of participating companies.

Its name is Global Dollar Network—.
Its stablecoin is “USDG”—.

If Open USD is a community just starting to move, it can be said that USDG is a community that has already begun to run—.Behind it is Paxos—, a veteran company in the stablecoin industry.

<Who is Paxos?>
Paxos was founded in 2012 and has provided financial infrastructure for digital asset issuance, custody, and settlement to enterprises. In December 2025, it received approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and transitioned into a federally chartered trust bank.

Its track record is extensive; in addition to handling the issuance of PayPal's stablecoin “PYUSD,” it also previously handled the issuance of the Binance-branded stablecoin “BUSD,” which once had one of the world's largest outstanding balances.

The community that Paxos began building with itself at the center is the Global Dollar Network.

<What is USDG?>
The Global Dollar Network was started in November 2024 by seven major companies.

・Paxos, which handles issuance
・Anchorage Digital, which provides custody for institutional investors
・Bullish and Kraken, which generate liquidity
・Galaxy Digital, which develops financial services for institutional investors
・Nuvei, which handles payments
・Robinhood, which serves as a gateway for individual investors

The structure was designed with issuance, custody, distribution, and usage in mind. Since then, many companies have joined one after another, expanding the scope of use to international payments, cryptocurrency trading, the European market, and DeFi (decentralized finance).

And currently, the number of participating companies has exceeded 130, and the outstanding balance has surpassed 3 billion dollars.

<Why companies are expanding USDG>
The Global Dollar Network returns the majority of the revenue generated from reserve assets to companies that contribute to the expansion of the USDG network.

For exchanges, simply handling USDC or USDT does not result in the majority of the reserve asset revenue earned by the issuing company going to them. On the other hand, if they actively handle USDG and have customers hold it, they can also earn continuous revenue.

This virtuous cycle is what the Global Dollar Network is aiming for.It is attempting to move companies through the economic rationality that “if you expand USDG, you can also earn profits yourself.”

<Differences between Open USD and USDG>
Both Open USD and USDG share the philosophy of “not monopolizing profits by a single company, but popularizing stablecoins together with participating companies.”However, their current positions are significantly different.

Open USD, centered on Bridge under Stripe, surpasses USDG in the scale and breadth of participating companies. Its potential is significant, and there is a possibility it could overtake USDG at once. On the other hand, although issuance is scheduled within the year, its overall picture, such as role distribution and services used, is not yet visible.

In contrast, USDG's strength lies in the fact that it is already operational. Paxos handles issuance, and Kraken, Bullish, Robinhood, and others support the distribution channels.

Once a company incorporates USDG, it will not easily switch to another stablecoin. Furthermore, as the number of participating companies increases, transactions become more active, and as a result, it becomes easier for new companies to join.

As we saw last time, USDG is in a position closer to the tipping point where it shifts from “it is profitable to participate” to “it is disadvantageous not to participate.”

<Differences from SoFiUSD>
SoFiUSD is a bank-issued stablecoin issued by SoFi. SoFi can incorporate SoFiUSD into the financial services it provides.

・Approximately 15 million members
・The SoFi app, which provides deposits, loans, investments, credit cards, etc.
・Galileo and Technisys, which provide infrastructure for financial institutions
・Providing banking services to corporate clientsBig Business Banking

By connecting these into one, there is a possibility that SoFiUSD could be expanded into remittances, payments, investments, and B2B transactions.

Open USD and USDG create economic zones by distributing profits to participating companies. SoFiUSD creates an economic zone by integrating banking and financial services.

In other words, for Open USD and USDG, the key to success is "how to involve external companies." For SoFiUSD, the first challenge is "how far SoFi can connect the customers, deposits, financial products, and technology infrastructure it already possesses into one."

Furthermore, if SoFi can provide SoFiUSD to external banks, fintechs, exchanges, and payment companies,it has the potential to create a massive economic zone using the credibility of being bank-issued as a weapon, in a way different from Open USD or USDG.

Therefore, SoFiUSD is not necessarily a smaller concept than Open USD or USDG. The path they are aiming for toward financial infrastructure is simply different.

<Three Different Ways of Fighting>
Open USD, centered on Stripe and Bridge, creates a massive corporate alliance from the start. USDG has Paxos handle regulatory compliance and issuance, expanding the network while distributing operating profits to participating companies.

SoFiUSD is attempting to create bank-issued financial infrastructure by connecting banks, members, deposits, financial services, and technology infrastructure into one.

・Open USD's weapon is the breadth of participating companies
・USDG's weapon is the economic zone already in motion
・SoFiUSD's weapon is the integration of banking and financial services

So, who will ultimately control the financial infrastructure?

・Open USD, which has gathered over 140 companies?
・USDG, which is already operating a network of over 130 companies?
・SoFiUSD, which is challenging with the strength of being a bank?

And,why did SoFi participate in the Open Standard while issuing SoFiUSD itself?

Next time, I would like to compare the three—Open USD, USDG, and SoFiUSD—to consider who will ultimately control the financial infrastructure, and the possibility that SoFi is preparing for multiple futures.

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