Ghana launches pilot program for virtual-asset trading… 11 companies participate

YM Lee

Summary

Ghana’s Securities and Exchange Commission said it has selected 11 companies and will begin a 12-month regulatory sandbox to test virtual-asset trading and related services.
Participating firms will pursue a range of businesses, including virtual-asset exchanges, tokenization of global assets and gold, tokenization of payment systems, and custody of gold-backed securities.
After six months, companies that meet regulatory requirements and are ready for market launch will move to procedures to convert to full licenses.

Forecast Trend Report by Period

Ghana’s financial authorities are launching a pilot program aimed at institutionalizing virtual-asset (cryptocurrency) trading.

According to Bloomberg on the 10th (local time), the Ghana Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it has selected 11 companies for a 12-month regulatory sandbox program to test virtual-asset trading and related services.

The pilot includes five virtual-asset exchanges: Hyro Exchange, Hanypay, HSB Global, Koinkoin and WhiteBit. Vaulta, XChain and Bsystem will also take part in a project to tokenize fractional interests in global assets.

Africoin is pursuing a project to tokenize gold, while Blu Penguin will be responsible for tokenizing a payments system. GoldBod will serve as the custodian for gold-backed securities.

Through the pilot, the SEC plans to allow participating firms to test services and products within a regulated environment. Six months after the program begins, companies that meet regulatory requirements and are ready to go to market will undergo procedures to convert to full licenses.

Ghana is one of Africa’s largest gold producers, and the need for regulation is growing as the virtual-asset market expands. Locally, about 3 million people—roughly 17% of the adult population—are estimated to trade virtual assets. Analysts say this trend is also affecting fiat-currency management and gross domestic product (GDP) measurement.

Ghana’s central bank governor, Johnson Asiama, said after a virtual-asset regulatory bill passed parliament in December last year that the goal is “to bring emerging activities into a clear and responsible regulatory framework.”

Del Titus Bawuah, chairman of the Web3 Africa Group and chief executive officer (CEO) of Hyro Exchange, said, “This framework will help clarify capital requirements, custody standards, governance obligations, consumer protection and anti-money-laundering controls.”