Ghana Prepares Crypto Licensing and New Rules to Regulate the Market
Date: 2025-07-25 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: IN WORLD
The Central Bank of Ghana has announced plans to introduce strict rules for companies working with digital assets. According to the head of the Central Bank, Johnson Asyama, the popularity of cryptocurrencies among local residents is growing, which affects the national economy. According to his estimates, millions of citizens of the country are already making transactions in cryptocurrencies, but these transactions are not reflected in official financial statements, which creates risks for the local currency.
The new rules should be ready by September 2025. The regulator hopes that such a step will help the state better control the flow of digital assets, replenish the budget through taxes and attract more investment. The authorities also expect that the regulation will increase the volume of trade within Africa and help to more effectively manage monetary policy. This is especially relevant now, when the cedi, the national currency of Ghana, is demonstrating strong volatility. Thus, over the past year, it has strengthened by 48% after collapsing by a quarter a year earlier. High inflation - 13.7% in June - and a key rate of 28% are forcing the search for new tools to stabilize the economy.
Del Titus Bawua, who heads the Web3 Africa Group, noted that African governments are increasingly thinking about integrating cryptocurrencies into the traditional financial system. According to him, about 17% of the adult population of Ghana, which is about three million people, are already actively using virtual currencies. Over the year - from July 2023 to June 2024 - the volume of crypto transactions in the country reached $ 3 billion, and in Nigeria for the same period - $ 59 billion, which is almost half of all transactions with crypto assets in countries south of the Sahara.
In addition, the region can benefit significantly from the transition to digital currencies due to the high cost of traditional transfers. Messari analysts emphasize that Africa has the most expensive transfers in the world, which makes cryptocurrencies an attractive alternative.
Craig Stoer, a lawyer at Yellow Card, a company specializing in payments using stablecoins, is convinced that digital assets will help solve the problem of a lack of dollar liquidity. This is especially important for trade between African countries, which often suffers from limited access to the dollar.
Similar measures to license crypto platforms were previously introduced in South Africa, where the regulator required all crypto companies to obtain licenses to continue operating. Ghana is following the same path, hoping to make the market transparent and safe for both citizens and businesses.
