OUSD's Partner List Pulls a Classic: "We Were Just Curious" 😬

South Korean exchange operator Dunamu and electronics giant Samsung Electronics are among several firms distancing themselves from Open Standard's Open USD stablecoin initiative after being listed among more than 140 companies that Open Standard said had "signed up to use" the dollar-backed token. An Upbit spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the exchange "has only indicated our potential willingness to consider taking part in the future expansion of the OpenStandard ecosystem," adding that Upbit is not participating in the issuance of OUSD. Dunamu is the parent company of Upbit.

The pushback follows a Friday report by ChosunBiz in which Samsung said it had not held formal discussions with the project and did not know what role it was expected to perform. Shinhan Financial Group and KBank reportedly said they had only indicated they would consider the initiative. One company official, quoted by CoinGape, said the firm learned of its inclusion in the OUSD alliance from domestic news, adding that it had "merely responded to OpenStandard's expression of interest by saying we would consider it if things went well." Cointelegraph reached out to Open Standard for comments but did not receive a response before publication.

Open Standard announced the dollar-backed stablecoin on Tuesday, listing Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock, Google, Samsung Electronics and Dunamu among the participants. The project previously said businesses would be able to mint and redeem OUSD without fees or volume limits, and that it plans to distribute earnings generated from reserves to participating companies. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire questioned the sustainability of offering free, unlimited minting and redemption, while Lorenzo Valente, director of research at ARK Invest, previously called the announcement a "giant" letter of intent.

South Korea has yet to pass the Digital Asset Basic Act, leaving unresolved who may issue stablecoins and what roles companies can perform. Lawmakers have debated whether issuance should be limited to banks or opened to qualified non-bank issuers, while the broader regulatory framework remains under discussion. The uncertainty has made it difficult for South Korean companies to commit to stablecoin initiatives, as rules governing issuance, reserve management and participation in stablecoin ecosystems have yet to be finalized.