Ghana Aims for December Roll-Out of Crypto Regulations

Ghana’s central bank is pushing to introduce formal cryptocurrency regulation in place before year-end, with the West African country advancing a bill to parliament just a week after Kenya passed its own bill regulating the industry.

Overview

At a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Johnson Asiama, confirmed that a virtual assets bill is being advanced to parliament, targeting implementation by December 2025. 

Asiama said,

“The bill is on its way to parliament, hopefully before the end of December, we should be able to regulate cryptocurrencies in Ghana.”

Draft Legislation & Regulatory Timeline

Over the past four months, the Bank of Ghana has been working on legislation to regulate digital assets and virtual-asset service providers (VASPs). Originally, the regulations were expected sooner, but the timeline has shifted to December. 

Under the bill, the central bank would gain powers to license and monitor crypto exchanges, wallet operators, brokers, and token issuers. The legislation is intended not just as a legal formality but as the foundation for enforcement capacity, oversight, and consumer protection in the crypto space.

Drivers & Implications for Ghana

One of the main reasons for the move is the rapid increase in crypto usage in Ghana. Recent estimates suggest that more than 3 million Ghanaians—roughly 8-9 % of the population—use cryptocurrencies in some form. According to some reports, crypto transactions totalled about USD 3 billion in one 12-month period. 

Governor Asiama noted that while cryptocurrencies are not legal tender, their growing adoption has made it necessary for policymakers to assert some control to prevent abuse, illicit flows, and to bring the emerging sector under formal oversight.  Part of the plan is to establish a new department within the Bank of Ghana tasked with crypto-oversight. 

Another factor is regional momentum: other African countries, such as Kenya, have recently advanced or passed laws to regulate virtual assets, raising the pressure on Ghana to keep pace.

Challenges Ahead & What Comes Next

While the December deadline is ambitious, there are some practical hurdles. One is capacity: the enforcement/oversight department is still being developed, and it is not yet fully staffed or operational. Training staff, building expertise, and establishing monitoring mechanisms are all part of what remains to be done. 

There are also unanswered questions around how licensing will be structured, what capital or compliance requirements will apply to crypto-firms, how consumer protection and anti-money-laundering rules will work in practice, and what level of coordination will occur with other regulators (such as securities or payments-oversight authorities).

If successful, the new legal framework could bring greater legitimacy, oversight and perhaps investment into Ghana’s crypto/fintech sector. But if delays or gaps occur, there’s a risk that regulatory uncertainty could discourage innovation—or push parts of the market underground.

For now, all eyes will be on parliament’s handling of the bill, the pace of institutional capacity-building, and whether the Bank of Ghana meets its December 2025 target delivery.