The central bank of Ghana, a West African nation of some 30 million population, issued a draft of guidelines for digital assets after an extensive review of the surging popularity of crypto, as well as engagements with various stakeholders.
Over the past three years, the bank noted, Ghanaians’ use of crypto has increased amid a tech-savvy youth demographic, high internet usage and the rise of online companies offering crypto services, popularly known as Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs).
While acknowledging the beneficial applications of crypto, the bank said it would be vigilant in addressing the risks.
It intends to regulate VASPs, within a defined set of services, for money laundering and terrorism financing, consumer protection and any other measures it may deem appropriate. VASPs would be required to perform customer due diligence and transaction monitoring, and to report to the Financial Intelligence Centre.
Additionally, the central bank would collaborate with the Securities and Exchange Commission to develop complementary regulatory frameworks for various applications or use cases of crypto.
Once a regulatory framework is established, all VASPs operating in Ghana would be required to apply for authorisation from either the Bank of Ghana or SEC, depending on their specific product offerings.
Commercial banks would be permitted to offer banking, payment, and settlement services for registered VASPs.
The guidelines are intended to present the bank’s proposed regulatory measures and to solicit feedback from industry and the public by August 31, according to the draft, which included an email address for registering such opinions.
