More than 100 companies dealing in cryptocurrency have now been registered by the Bank of Ghana under a new policy to regulate the growing digital money space in the country.

In a document released on November 5, 2025, the Bank said this is Ghana’s first official framework for guiding the use of virtual assets like Bitcoin, tokens, and other digital financial services.

“The Bank recognizes that virtual assets can no longer remain outside Ghana’s financial regulatory remit,” the document stated.

According to the Bank, a registration exercise conducted in July 2025 identified over 100 companies providing services such as exchange, wallet management, brokerage, and investment advisory to a user base of more than three million Ghanaians.

To strengthen supervision, the bank explained it will establish a Virtual Assets Regulatory Office (VARO) to oversee the sector.

This VARO, it clarified, will act as a link between government oversight and the virtual assets industry, and work with agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and the National Communications Authority (NCA).

The Bank also wants to start a national programme to teach people about crypto, working together with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ministry of Education.

The programme will help people understand crypto better, especially young people, since they are the biggest users of it in Ghana.

Ghana is designing its crypto rules to match global standards from big international bodies like the IMF and FATF.

This makes Ghana one of the few African countries that is creating proper laws for crypto while still encouraging new ideas in the digital space.

Months ago, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) drew the attention of the general public to Money Transfer Organisations (MTOS) operating within the Remittance and the Ghana Forex Market without approval.

These MTOs include ACE MONEY TRANSFER, REMIT UNION, REMIT HOME, ROZE REMIT, MONTY GLOBAL.

The other five are NAIRAGRAM, I-TRANSFER, HURUPAY, EVERSEND and IZI SEND.

The public, banks, Dedicated Electronic Money Issuer (DEMI) and Enhanced Payment Service Providers (EPSP) have been cautioned to desist from dealing with any of these institutions.

Approved MTOs have been entreated to terminate their foreign exchange flows through their partner institutions only and to adhere strictly to all the guidelines in respect of their operations.

Section 3.1 of the Foreign Exchange Act, 2006 Act 723, states that "a person shall not engage in the business of dealing in foreign exchange without a licence issued under this Act."

Further, section 15.3 of the Foreign Exchange Act states, "each transfer of foreign exchange to or from Ghana shall be made through a person licensed to carry out the business of money transfers or any other authorised dealer."

All market players have been instructed to comply with the directives.

"Non-compliance will result in severe sanctions including the withdrawal of the licence of the institution in breach," the BoG added.

Earlier this month, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) blew the alarm on the operations of Yellow Card Financial Inc., an unapproved digital payment platform.

According to the central bank in a statement dated June 11, the unlicensed entity is actively promoting itself as a provider of digital payment services, cryptocurrency trading, and cross-border remittance solutions.

The platform purports to enable users to make payments, send and receive electronic money and stable coins across borders, as well as convert stable coins into local currency.

These activities, the central bank says, require appropriate licensing from the Bank of Ghana.

The Bank of Ghana has also discovered that YellowPay is engaged in an ongoing collaboration with HanyPay, an entity that claims to be licensed by the Africa Diaspora Central Bank (ADCB).

This partnership reportedly seeks to develop and integrate a new stable coin, AKL Lumi, into the global financial ecosystem.

According to the central bank, this development raises significant regulatory concerns, as HanyPay is neither licensed nor authorized to operate within the jurisdiction of Ghana.

In 2022, Bank of Ghana (BoG) reiterated its cautionary stance toward the use and trade of cryptocurrencies within its jurisdiction, both to the institutions it licenses and to the general public, citing obvious current risks that it believes, if unchecked, could endanger the country's financial sector.

This came after the watchdog reviewed "many regulatory and global standards-setting agencies across multiple jurisdictions" and monitored developments throughout the world to establish a strong "institutional grasp" of important ideas in the developing field of digital finance.

the central bank's president

This was revealed by Dr. Ernest Addison during his remarks at the 2022 Annual Bankers' Dinner, commonly known as the Governor's Day, which was held in his honor by the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIB).

“The Bank still stands by its cautionary statement to the public on the dangers associated with crypto transactions as contained in several notices in the past. Interested parties need to be wary about potential losses that could occur when trading in crypto. The Bank stands by its earlier directives and the notices issued on March 9 2022, that all licenced institutions should refrain from facilitating crypto transactions via their platforms or agent outlets,” he emphasised.

In the afore-cited directive, and a similar one issued in 2018, the financial sector regulator stated clearly that cryptocurrencies – the most popular being Bitcoin (BCT) – remain unregulated under any laws in the country, and as such do not have any safeguards since they are not backed by guarantees.

The Governor however added that his outfit will not impose an outright ban on cryptocurrencies, as it considers such a line of action futile due to the decentralised and borderless nature of the asset class.

He also stated that the BoG will continue to keenly monitor happenings in the space and allow for the development of crypto and blockchain-leaning products within the confines of its regulatory sandbox, even as it works with other regulators toward a possible regulatory framework.

“In all of these, the clearest takeaway for the Bank is the fact that cryptocurrencies are digital assets and not currency; and inasmuch as crypto is associated with other key risks including volatility, cyber theft, loss of funds with a potential threat to financial stability, an outright ban has proven ineffective mainly due to its decentralised and borderless nature.

“Consequently, the Bank intends to continue allowing blockchain in our regulatory sandbox as the first step while we continue to examine a comprehensive regulatory framework for the digital asset industry,” Dr. Addison continued.