Introduction

 Shiga currently has two main segments of customers, broadly split up geographically:

 1.    Customers who require a currency swap:

A.    for making a payment

B.    operational purposes (managing balances in different operating regions, consolidating revenue from multiple locations into the main operating account)

2.    Customers who want to portal into or out of crypto – also known as on/off ramping. Usually for treasury management, asset allocation and purchase/sale of digital assets.

Currency Swaps

Globally, the predominant means of transferring money cross-border is slow, inefficient and expensive (Think SWIFT, Western Union, Paypal, etc). This is experienced most prominently in Africa, where even large banks cannot adequately serve their customer’s needs.

Individuals and businesses are forced to leverage the ‘black market’ for their FX needs. This sector is unregulated, informal and very inefficient. You are mostly trading P2P which most financial institutions frown upon, and several legitimate companies do not accept altogether. 

In Africa, this is the predominant use case for stablecoins. Customers leverage stablecoins as a source of liquidity both directly and indirectly, and swap their stablecoins for the currency they require. 

Shiga brings structure and seamlessness to this sector of customers the following ways via our OTC/STS desk: 

  •   Seamless access to the blockchain - You do not have to have a wallet or be crypto savvy to leverage our solutions

  •   Compliance - Payments are made to and from bank accounts in your name, removing regulatory scrutiny and the risk associated with P2P, or payments are made from licensed, regulated entities.

  •   Speed and efficiency- all transactions are completed the same day. When the payment is performed via SWIFT, transaction slips/ telex are provided within 24 hours. 

Portal In/Out of Crypto

The global regulatory landscape regarding Crypto is yet to be defined. We have seen exchanges such as Binance experience issues in several countries where they operate, and we have also seen blanket bans in regions such as Nigeria. Individuals and corporations have also experienced discrimination from financial institutions based on leveraging exchanges and also tax concerns.

Our approach to on and off ramping aims to address all these issues. In USD, EUR and GBP we offer virtual accounts that are synonymous with your digital wallets. That way, our customer base are able to on and off ramp without leveraging an exchange or product. You are simply seen to be sending money to/from your own account.

In regions where this framework is not yet in place, our customer base will only be on and off ramping to and from the trading accounts of licensed, regulated entities, mitigating most of the risks described above via our OTC Desk. A compliant first approach to bridging the gap between centralised and decentralized finance remains a key part of our vision