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This is the 96th edition of The Web3 + AI Daily - your definitive guide to the intersection of blockchain and AI! We’re kicking off October with a bunch of exciting news: OpenUSD, the new stablecoin founded by Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase, Shopify, and Stripe is now live; the first NEAR Protocol spot ETF in the US has just been listed; and our latest Book Club pick is here.
Thank you for being here! Let’s dive in.
What’s Hot in Web3 + AI?
Open USD Goes to Market to Rival Circle and Tether
OUSD or Open USD, a new stablecoin founded by Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase, Shopify, and Stripe, and managed by Open Standard, just went live. It currently runs on Ethereum, Solana, Base, and Tempo, and is available on Coinbase, Kraken, and Uniswap.
That’s where [Open Standard CEO] Zach Abrams sees an opening. Open USD, he said, is designed for banking, cross-border payments, card settlement, institutional trading and lending, with an economic model built to reward the companies that drive supply and activity.
Although Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase have been long-term partners of Circle, Open USD was created to challenge the hegemony of Tether.io and Circle over the stablecoin market. That’s why it comes with a fundamentally different economic model:
Stablecoin issuers earn interest from the cash and securities backing their tokens. Tether retains much of that income, while Circle shares a portion of USDC reserve revenue with distribution partners such as Coinbase.
Open Standard wants to make that relationship central to its model.
Founding partners won’t receive a special share of revenue, Abrams said. Instead, they will earn rewards based on the amount of OUSD supply they generate, under the same framework as other partners.
Abrams said much of Open Standard’s equity is also intended to be distributed over the next 4-5 years to founders and network partners based on their contributions to OUSD’s growth.
Yet, rivaling USDT and USDC is just part of Open USD’s mission. It strives to democratize financial services like foreign exchange and cross-border payments that still remain under banks’ dominance. Empowering agentic commerce is also among the company’s objectives.
Open USD was announced back in June along with a spectacular roster of backers. They include BlackRock, Standard Chartered, BVNK, Bybit, Aave Labs, Aptos Labs, Galaxy, Cloudflare, Google, IBM, MoonPay, MoneyGram, OKX, Paradigm, Polygon Labs, Samsung Electronics, UBS, UniCredit, and Western Union.
Bitwise Lists NEAR ETF to Offer Exposure to the Agentic Economy
On Tuesday Bitwise Asset Management listed NRR - the first spot NEAR Protocol exchange-traded product in the USA. The asset carries a 0.75% management fee and aims to give brokers straightforward exposure to the emerging agentic economy.
Bitwise already runs a NEAR product in Europe. In the US, its line-up includes funds for bitcoin, Ethereum‘s ether, Solana‘s SOL, Ripple‘s XRP, and Hyperliquid‘s HYPE.
NRR offers in-house staking to maximize NEAR’s ~5% staking rewards:
Not all of that yield reaches the fund. Under the trust’s prospectus, 33% of the NEAR earned from staking goes to fees split among the staking agents, the custodian and Bitwise, leaving the trust with about 67%.
Apart from building at the intersection of AI and crypto, Bitwise also outlined NEAR’s security design, smart tokenomics, and quick growth as the motivation behind NRR’s release.
The Web3 + AI Book Club
In October We’re Reading ‘Against Tech Oligarchy’
As we’re approaching the best time of the year to curl up under a blanket and read, I’m happy to unveil our latest monthly pick. In October we’ll be reading ‘Against Tech Oligarchy: Worker Resistance in the World’s Most Powerful Industry’ by authors JS Tan and Clarissa Redwine.
I’m looking forward to welcoming you in our literary community on Fable - join here and share your throughts about this and other titles we’ve explored.
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The Web3 + AI Book Club is live on Fable. Our October title is 'Against Tech Oligarchy' by JS Tan and Clarissa Redwine. Follow the link below and come join our literary community.
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Disclaimer: The content of this newsletter is provided for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing contained herein should be construed as financial advice or as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any of the companies or assets mentioned.
Please don’t take my views at face value. Instead, do your own research (DYOR), think critically, and share your perspective so we can challenge ideas, learn from one another, and arrive at better conclusions through thoughtful discussion.