Tether, Pave Bank, and the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on July 22 to establish the Georgia-Singapore Fintech Scholars Programme. The initiative will fund scholarships for undergraduates from Tbilisi State University in Georgia to study fintech at Singapore Management University for a semester.
The program is set to launch in January 2027 and operate for five years, marking the first institutional higher-education exchange and first privately funded fintech scholarship connecting Georgia and Singapore. Signatories to the agreement include Tether chairman Giancarlo Devasini, GFTN CEO Sopnendu Mohanty, and Pave Bank CEO Salim Dhanani. Scholar selection will be managed jointly by the three organizations.
The collaboration reflects Tether's expanding presence in Georgia. The stablecoin issuer has engaged with the Georgian government on blockchain infrastructure since 2023, and in May 2026 announced plans for a stablecoin pegged to the Georgian lari. Pave Bank holds a Georgia banking license and completed a Series A funding round in 2025 focused on integrating traditional banking with digital asset services.
GFTN operates as a cross-border fintech organization. Its CEO, Sopnendu Mohanty, previously served as Chief Fintech Officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The five-year commitment represents a longer-term institutional engagement than typical corporate memoranda in the crypto sector. However, a memorandum of understanding remains a statement of intent rather than a binding contract, with the program's success dependent on the first cohort's arrival at Singapore Management University in January 2027.
