- The Bank of Ghana aims to regulate crypto by December 2025.
- About 3 million Ghanaians used digital currencies in 2023–2024.
- Despite the timeline, the enforcement unit remains unstaffed, raising concerns.
Ghana’s central bank has committed to introducing cryptocurrency regulations by December 2025, even though its enforcement department is not yet staffed. Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Asiama announced the plan during the International Monetary Fund’s fall meetings in Washington. He said a new virtual assets bill will reach parliament before the end of the year. The decision comes as digital currency use continues to grow rapidly in the country.
Around three million adults, or about 17% of Ghana’s population, currently use cryptocurrencies for payments, savings, and remittances. Between July 2023 and June 2024, crypto transactions in Ghana totaled roughly $3 billion. This activity reflects a major shift in financial behavior as citizens move beyond the formal banking system.
New Oversight Department in Formation
According to a report by Bloomberg , Asiama said the central bank is building a new department dedicated to overseeing crypto activities. Recruitment and training of technical staff are ongoing, with the goal of establishing a specialized enforcement team. He emphasized that monitoring digital transactions is critical for protecting the financial system.
The new legislation will provide the bank with the authority to license crypto platforms and track financial data that currently escapes official records. The Bank of Ghana views the framework as a tool to improve monetary policy management.
With interest rates at 28% and inflation at 13.7%, authorities want stronger oversight of money flows affecting currency stability. The cedi’s volatility remains a concern, having gained 48% over the past year after a sharp 25% fall earlier.
Regional Push Toward Clear Rules
Ghana’s plan follows regional moves toward formal crypto oversight. As reported by CryptoNewsLand earlier, Kenya’s parliament recently passed the Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill, awaiting the president’s signature. That law assigns stablecoin regulation to the Central Bank of Kenya and exchange supervision to the Capital Markets Authority. Nigeria remains the region’s largest crypto market, handling $59 billion in digital currency transactions over the same period.
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority of South Africa has registered 59 crypto platforms , with another 260 pending consideration. As of the latest market trends, Governments on the continent are implementing rules to enhance transparency in the rapidly expanding digital economy. Although Ghana has an ambitious time schedule, there are concerns regarding implementation capacity. Cryptocurrency oversight by the central bank has not yet been staffed, casting doubt on the preparedness to enforce it.
Authorities have not published information on licensing regulations, capital mandates, and the penalties for violations. There are already blockchain-based projects under the country’s experiment of Ghana, such as the commemorative digital stamps and a pilot of the e-cedi, the central bank’s digital currency. How swiftly the authorities can close the gap between the design of policies and the institutional capacity may determine the success of the forthcoming regulations.
