The upcoming launch of Open USD, a dollar-pegged stablecoin backed by more than 140 global financial and technology firms, is expected to reshape Korea's stablecoin debate by shifting the focus from issuers to companies with real distribution power, industry officials said Tuesday. Open USD is challenging the issuer-dominated profit model that has long defined the stablecoin market. Its governance rights and reserve income will be shared among participating companies, with revenue distributed based on the competitiveness of each distribution partner. The launch is scheduled for the second half of this year. In Korea, 13 companies, including Samsung Electronics, Shinhan Financial Group, KB Kookmin Card, Dunamu and Hanwha Group, have joined the initiative. Global firms such as Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, Coinbase, Google, BNY and Standard Chartered are also among the participants. Industry officials said the emergence of Open USD carries significant implications for Korea as the country debates the introduction of a won-pegged stablecoin. So far, Korea's stablecoin discussion has