News, data and analysis on tokenized assets, market design and digital economic systems.
The Virtual Asset Service Providers Act passed in December 2025 and a twelve-month regulatory sandbox opened in March 2026 with 11 firms admitted, ahead of full licences under shared Bank of Ghana and SEC oversight.
Ghana's Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 (Act 1154), passed by Parliament on December 19, 2025 and signed into law, legalises and regulates virtual asset markets with the Bank of Ghana and the Securities and Exchange Commission sharing oversight by activity type; virtual assets, including stablecoins, may not be used to price goods, invoice or pay wages and sit outside deposit protection. The Bank of Ghana issued a notice in 2025 requiring existing virtual asset service providers to register. The SEC published a virtual asset sandbox notice on January 23, 2026 listing seven eligible categories, then issued the Securities Industry (Regulatory Sandbox Licensing) Guidelines 2026 on March 9, 2026, superseding the 2020 version. The sandbox opened on March 11, 2026 with 11 firms admitted for a twelve-month cohort, including Africoin, Blu Penguin, Vaulta, XChain, Goldbod, Hyro Exchange, HanyPay and WhiteBit. Full licences are possible after six months of satisfactory operation.
| Framework | Status | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 (Act 1154) | Enacted | 19 December 2025 | Passed by Parliament December 19, 2025 and signed into law; licenses VASPs under shared Bank of Ghana and SEC oversight, recognises stablecoins without legal tender status, and bars pricing, invoicing or wage payment in virtual assets. |
| Bank of Ghana notice requiring registration of virtual asset service providers | In force | 15 August 2025 | Mandatory registration of existing VASPs ahead of full licensing, with reporting of activity and customer numbers. |
| SEC Ghana notice on the virtual asset regulatory sandbox | In force | 23 January 2026 | Sets out seven eligible categories of virtual asset activity for sandbox admission. |
| Securities Industry (Regulatory Sandbox Licensing) Guidelines 2026 | In force | 9 March 2026 | Supersedes the 2020 sandbox guidelines; establishes application, testing and exit conditions, including progression to full licensing. |
| SEC Ghana virtual asset sandbox cohort | In force | 11 March 2026 | Opened with 11 firms admitted for twelve months, including Africoin, Blu Penguin, Vaulta, XChain, Goldbod, Hyro Exchange, HanyPay and WhiteBit; full licences possible after six months. |
| Anti-Money Laundering Act 2020 (Act 1044) as applied to virtual assets | In force | 29 December 2020 | Provides the AML/CFT basis for supervising virtual asset activity pending the VASP Act's operational directives. |
Every development we have evidenced under Ghana, newest first.
Ghana's Parliament passed the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, requiring entities providing virtual asset services to be licensed or registered, with regulatory responsibility shared between the Bank of Ghana and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Bank of Ghana said transition arrangements would give existing operators time to comply once the law takes effect and that unauthorised activity would attract sanctions.
The Bank of Ghana announced a partnership with Giesecke+Devrient to design, implement and pilot a general-purpose central bank digital currency, the eCedi, intended to work alongside physical cash and reach users through mobile applications and smart cards. The pilot was structured to test end-user adoption, infrastructure security, monetary policy effects and legal questions before any national rollout.
Mastercard and the African digital-asset platform Yellow Card announced a partnership on 7 May 2026 to build stablecoin-based payment and settlement rails across Eastern Europe,…
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