Tether and Shiga Partner on Self-Custodial Wallets for Africa and GCC

Tether and Shiga Digital are teaming up to bring self-custodial wallets to Africa and the Gulf Cooperation Council. The plan involves two products, ENTA for individuals and businesses, and Pulse for banks and fintech companies.

Users will be able to fund ENTA wallets with local currency, U.S. dollars, or Bitcoin, and hold USD₮, Bitcoin, and XAU₮ in the wallet. For institutional clients, Shiga will offer a choice of using WDK infrastructure managed by Shiga or running the wallet software in their own environment.

The partnership aims to address high remittance costs in the region, with the average cost of sending money to Sub-Saharan Africa at 8.46% in the third quarter of 2025. Tether's chief executive Paolo Ardoino said that WDK will let companies build products where users retain control of their assets.