Everyone Just Launched a Stablecoin

<p>Out of left field: 140+ companies — Visa, Mastercard, Google, Samsung, PayPal, BlackRock, Coinbase, Stripe and more — announced Open USD, one shared stablecoin where the partners keep the reserve earnings. Then came the backlash: firms saying they never signed on, and Circle's CEO firing back. Meanwhile Strategy published a real plan for STRC (including permission to sell some Bitcoin), whales scooped up ~$16.7B, and Robinhood went full crypto. No one told the builders it's a bear market. <br /><br />In this episode of Good For Bitcoin, Brandon and Kate discuss: </p><ul><li>The bombshell: Open Standard announced Open USD, a stablecoin with 140+ partners — Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, Google, Samsung, PayPal, BlackRock, Coinbase, Stripe and more — where partners keep the reserve earnings. Then the backlash: firms saying they never signed on, and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire firing back — 'integrity matters.' A consortium-sized shot at USDC.</li><li>Strategy skipped the weekly buy and published its Digital Credit Capital Framework instead: USD reserve raised to $2.55B (17.4 months of STRC dividend coverage), STRC dividend up 50 bps to 12%, a $99–$100 target band, and a BTC monetization program allowing up to $1.25B of Bitcoin sales. Markets liked seeing a plan — MSTR up ~20%, STRC back near $87. Also: Saylor's Channel 4 walk-off — 'let me finish.'</li><li>No one told the builders it's a bear market. OG whales bought an estimated ~$16.7B of Bitcoin in the last two weeks — classic late-bear accumulation. Metaplanet added 2,823 BTC to reach an even 43,000, and Galaxy Digital joined the Russell 1000.</li><li>Robinhood's 'World Is Flat' event: launching in Canada with zero trading fees for 90 days, Robinhood Earn (lend USDG on-chain from a self-custody wallet at 7% APY), and Robinhood Chain — an AI-native L1 for financial services and real-world assets.</li><li>Quick hits: Binance will stop serving UK clients after missing the MiCA licensing deadline; Trump disclosed $50M+ of Bitcoin held in cold storage (JD Vance under $500K); SPI Holdings is shutting its mining pool July 31 — ~2% of global hashrate — pivoting to exchange, stablecoin, and AI plays.</li><li>Pain and hopium to close: the average IBIT investor is now down ~40% as spot ETFs logged $1.79B of weekly outflows — their second-worst week ever. But Bitcoin just printed its third straight red quarterly candle, historically a bottom marker.</li><li>Follow the show on X — @goodforbtc.</li></ul><p> <br /><b>Hosts:</b> </p><ul><li>Brandon Marshall — <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://x.com/marshallmixing" target="_blank">@marshallmixing</a></li><li>Kate Parkman — <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://x.com/katemparkman" target="_blank">@katemparkman</a></li></ul><p> <br /><b>Subscribe &amp; Follow:</b> </p><ul><li><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://goodforbitcoin.com" target="_blank">goodforbitcoin.com</a></li><li><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.youtube.com/@GoodForBitcoin" target="_blank">YouTube</a></li><li><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5U1THeUKH0kCnUHXwCm76o" target="_blank">Spotify</a></li><li><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/da978fdc-d1e9-4df7-acd0-922f254184c5/good-for-bitcoin" target="_blank">Amazon Music</a></li><li><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-for-bitcoin/id1777877674" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a></li><li><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://pca.st/2jjlopxd" target="_blank">Pocket Casts</a></li><li><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://anchor.fm/s/f9f164f0/podcast/rss" target="_blank">RSS</a></li></ul>