Stripe expands crypto reach with stablecoin issuance tool

Stripe is launching a platform that lets any business issue its own stablecoin with customizable reserves and direct access to shared liquidity networks, directly challenging the market dominance of giants like Tether and Circle.

Summary

• Stripe’s Bridge unit launched “Open Issuance” on Tuesday, enabling businesses to issue their own stablecoins.
• The move challenges Tether and Circle by offering customizable reserves and shared liquidity.
• Phantom wallet is the first partner, launching its new CASH stablecoin for 15 million users.

According to an announcement on Sept. 30, Stripe’s crypto unit, Bridge, is launching “Open Issuance,” a platform designed to let companies from fintechs to traditional banks create their own branded stablecoins

Stripe said the infrastructure handles reserve management, compliance, and security, allowing businesses to launch a customized digital currency in a matter of days. The model has already attracted its first major partner: Phantom Wallet is using it to launch its new CASH stablecoin for its 15 million users.

Why Stripe is betting on stablecoin infrastructure

Stripe noted that businesses are increasingly using stablecoins to receive payments, manage treasuries, and launch cross-border financial services. The current bottleneck is that nearly all of this activity depends on a small set of issuers.

Tether and Circle dominate the market and, while their tokens are liquid and widely recognized, Stripe argues that their control leaves businesses exposed to fees, roadmap shifts, and economics that accrue to the issuer rather than the user. Open Issuance is framed as a solution to that imbalance, giving companies tools to capture those benefits directly.

According to the announcement, the platform’s mechanics are designed for speed and customization. Bridge manages the complex backend of reserve custody, often through partners like BlackRock and Fidelity, and ensures compliance.

This allows a company to launch a stablecoin in days, not months. At the same time, issuers can tailor nearly every aspect of their coin, from the blockchains it supports to specific smart-contract functionality and the exact composition of its cash and Treasury-bill reserves.

Notably, within the Open Issuance ecosystem, stablecoins are designed to be interoperable, allowing for instant, one-to-one swaps on-chain without a centralized exchange. A user could, for instance, convert Phantom’s CASH directly into USDH in a single, permissionless transaction, bypassing multiple layers of fees and friction.

Major players line up to test the platform

The platform’s viability is already being tested by major players. In addition to Phantom launching CASH, a cohort of existing Bridge-issued stablecoins is migrating to the new platform, creating an instant network effect. This group includes USDH from Hyperliquid, alongside stablecoins from established names such as MetaMask, Dakota, Slash, Lava, and Takenos, Stripe said.