On September 28, 2026, Tether and Shiga announced a regional expansion of Tether’s Wallet Development Kit (WDK), bringing self-custodial financial products to individuals, businesses and institutions across Africa and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The initiative supports USD₮, Bitcoin and Tether Gold (XAU₮), allowing users to hold and transfer assets without relying entirely on centralized wallet providers.
The rollout addresses persistent payment challenges such as currency volatility, limited banking access and high cross-border costs. According to World Bank data cited in the announcement, the average cost of sending remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa was 8.46% in the third quarter of 2025, compared with a global average of 6.36%. That gap creates room for blockchain-based settlement networks and dollar-denominated digital assets.
Shiga’s ENTA product is designed for individuals, high-net-worth users and businesses. It enables wallets to be funded with local currency, U.S. dollars or Bitcoin, after which users can hold and transfer USD₮, Bitcoin and XAU₮. The product focus is savings and payments rather than trading alone. Meanwhile, Pulse is positioned as infrastructure for banks, fintech firms and other institutions, supporting payment corridors, treasury activity and settlement flows. Deployments can be managed by Shiga or operated within a client’s own environment, giving institutions greater control over keys, data and infrastructure.
The expansion builds on Tether’s strategic investment in Shiga in June 2025, which was aimed at supporting blockchain-based financial infrastructure for African businesses, including USD₮ access, treasury management, foreign exchange and cross-border payments. WDK provides the wallet technology underneath ENTA and Pulse, with open-source architecture for developers. Tether has continued expanding WDK with modules for wallet interoperability, private transactions and additional chain support.
