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The central bank of Ghana is preparing to implement licensing requirements for cryptocurrency platforms by submitting new regulatory proposals to parliament by September 2025, according to a Bloomberg report.
Growing Crypto Adoption
Ghana’s push for cryptocurrency regulation comes as digital asset usage continues to soar in the country. Currently, approximately 17.3% of Ghanaian adults—over 3 million individuals—own cryptocurrencies, highlighting a significant and growing appetite for digital finance within the West African nation.
Crypto transactions in Ghana reached $3 billion in the year up to June 2024, representing a notable portion of sub-Saharan Africa’s $125 billion crypto economy, according to Del Titus Bawuah, CEO of Web3 Africa Group.
A Response to Economic Challenges
The Bank of Ghana’s regulatory efforts aim not only at capturing revenue but also at enhancing the central bank’s control over the national currency, the Ghanaian cedi. The cedi has experienced substantial volatility in recent years, depreciating by nearly 20% in 2024 before rallying by over 40% against the U.S. dollar in 2025. This volatility has complicated the central bank’s efforts to stabilize inflation and manage monetary policy effectively.
Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Asiama noted that unregulated crypto transactions have further compounded economic uncertainties, as these transactions often fall outside formal financial accounting systems, leading to revenue leakage and challenges in tracking monetary flows.
Regulatory Goals and Implications
By licensing crypto firms, Ghana seeks to:
- Ensure crypto platforms comply with national financial regulations.
- Bring digital asset transactions into the formal economy.
- Enable better tracking and taxation of crypto-related transactions.
This move aligns Ghana with other African countries, such as Nigeria and South Africa, which have also begun to formalize their crypto sectors to mitigate financial risks while encouraging technological innovation and financial inclusion.
Global Context
Ghana’s regulatory stance comes at a time when cryptocurrency adoption across Africa is accelerating rapidly. Countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa have seen significant uptake, driven by factors such as high remittance costs, currency volatility, and limited access to traditional financial services.
Ghana’s forthcoming regulations could set a precedent for neighboring nations, potentially influencing the broader regional approach to crypto governance.
