Tether and Shiga are planning to bring self-custodial wallets to users across Africa and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The two companies announced the collaboration on September 28, 2026. The products will support USD₮, Bitcoin and Tether Gold (XAU₮), while giving users direct control of their assets.
The initiative builds on Tether’s 2025 investment in Shiga. It also expands Tether’s push to make stablecoin infrastructure more accessible across emerging markets.
Tether and Shiga Target Africa and the GCC
The partnership will use Tether’s open-source Wallet Development Kit (WDK).
WDK provides the wallet infrastructure that Shiga will use to develop its new financial products. The companies plan to serve individuals, businesses and financial institutions across Africa and the GCC.
The approach is different from traditional custodial crypto platforms.
Users will control their own wallet keys and assets. Meanwhile, institutions can choose how they deploy the underlying infrastructure.
Shiga Plans Two Self-Custodial Products
Shiga plans to launch two products called ENTA and Pulse.
ENTA will target individuals, high-net-worth users and businesses. Users will be able to fund their wallets with local currency, U.S. dollars or Bitcoin.
They can then hold and transfer USD₮, Bitcoin and XAU₮ through self-custodial wallets.
Pulse will serve banks, fintech companies and other institutions.
It will allow these businesses to build digital-asset services around specific payment corridors, treasury operations and settlement flows.
Users Will Keep Control of Their Assets
Self-custody is central to the new products.
Instead of placing assets in wallets controlled by a third-party platform, users will hold the keys to their wallets.
This means users will have direct control over their digital assets. However, it also means they carry greater responsibility for protecting their wallet credentials.
Tether has made self-custody a major part of its broader wallet strategy. Its WDK is designed to help developers build independent wallets across different blockchain networks.
USD₮, Bitcoin and Gold Will Be Supported
The planned wallets will support three main assets.
USD₮ can provide users with exposure to a dollar-linked digital asset. Bitcoin offers access to the largest cryptocurrency by market value. XAU₮ gives users exposure to Tether’s gold-backed token.
The combination could appeal to users who want different ways to hold and transfer digital value.
However, the companies have not announced a specific launch date or the first countries where ENTA will become available.
Tether Builds on Its Shiga Investment
The new partnership follows Tether’s strategic investment in Shiga in June 2025.
At the time, Tether said Shiga was developing blockchain-based financial infrastructure for African businesses. Its services included virtual accounts, foreign exchange, treasury management and OTC services.
The latest announcement takes that relationship further.
Instead of focusing only on business infrastructure, Shiga will now use Tether’s WDK to build products for both consumers and institutions.
Africa’s Cross-Border Payments Market Is Key
Cross-border payments are an important part of the strategy.
Many African businesses operate across multiple currencies and banking systems. As a result, moving money across borders can be expensive and slow.
Tether and Shiga are targeting this problem with products that can support digital-asset transfers and payment corridors.
Tether said the average cost of sending remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa reached 8.46% in 2025.
However, the companies have not provided an estimate for how much users could save through ENTA or Pulse.
Pulse Could Bring Stablecoins to Financial Institutions
Pulse could be particularly important for the institutional market.
Banks and fintech companies will be able to build their own digital-asset products using Shiga’s infrastructure. They can also choose between infrastructure managed by Shiga or infrastructure operated within their own environment.
That flexibility could matter to regulated institutions.
It allows them to retain greater control over their keys, data and operational environment.
Shiga’s Nigeria Licence Is Still Pending
Nigeria could become an important market for Shiga.
The company says it is in the final stage of approval for a Digital Asset Intermediary licence in Nigeria.
If approved, the licence would allow Shiga to provide regulated digital-asset dealing, broking and custody services in the country.
The licence has not yet received final approval.
Therefore, Shiga should not currently be described as a fully licensed Nigerian digital-asset intermediary.
Tether Expands Its Self-Custody Strategy
The Shiga partnership is part of Tether’s wider push into self-custodial finance.
Tether open-sourced its WDK in 2025. The toolkit allows developers and organisations to build self-custodial wallets for Bitcoin, USD₮ and other digital assets.
The company is now extending that infrastructure through regional partners.
This could give Tether another route into markets where local payment needs differ significantly from those in developed economies.
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Editorial Takeaway
The Tether and Shiga self-custodial wallet plan goes beyond launching another crypto wallet.
The companies are building infrastructure that could connect stablecoins, Bitcoin and tokenised gold with local financial systems across Africa and the GCC.
For consumers, ENTA is designed to provide direct control over supported digital assets.
For banks and fintech companies, Pulse offers infrastructure for building digital-asset products around payments, treasury and settlement.
The biggest question is execution.
Tether and Shiga have not yet announced ENTA’s launch date or its initial markets. Shiga’s Nigerian licence is also still awaiting final approval.
Still, the partnership shows how Tether is moving beyond stablecoin issuance and investing in the infrastructure needed to make digital assets easier to use across emerging markets.
