Mahama assents to VASP Bill, formally legalising and regulating crypto and virtual assets in Ghana
The assent, confirmed in a statement by Mensah Thompson, Deputy Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), follows Parliament’s approval of the Bill
President John Dramani Mahama has signed the Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Bill into law, formally bringing cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets under a clear regulatory and licensing regime in Ghana.
The assent, confirmed in a statement by Mensah Thompson, Deputy Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), follows Parliament’s approval of the Bill after extensive stakeholder consultations and bipartisan deliberations.
“The Bill, among other things, legalizes the usage, trading and provision of services in the virtual assets (including cryptocurrencies) space,” Mr Thompson noted, while commending the Presidency, the Finance Ministry, the Bank of Ghana (BoG), the SEC leadership and market operators for their roles in the legislative process.
With the law now in force:
Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) – including exchanges, brokers, custodial wallet providers, token issuers and related intermediaries – will be required to obtain licences or register with either:
the SEC (for capital-market and investment-linked activities), or
the Bank of Ghana (for payment-system, settlement or banking-adjacent activities),
depending on their business model.
Activities such as trading, investment products, tokenisation, advisory services, mining/validation linked to securities, and virtual-asset ETFs will now sit squarely within a supervised, rules-based framework.
The SEC and BoG are expected to issue detailed implementing directives, guidelines and prudential requirements to operationalise the regime, including:
fit-and-proper criteria for promoters and directors
capital, risk-management and custody standards
disclosure, advertising and market-conduct rules
anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls.
The new VASP law delivers several structural shifts:
Legal certainty for digital assets
Crypto and other virtual-asset activities, previously operating in a grey zone, now have formal legal recognition. This is expected to de-risk the environment for both institutional and retail investors.
Investor protection and market integrity
The law hard-wires licensing, supervision, and enforcement tools for regulators, positioning Ghana to better manage fraud, market abuse, and AML/CFT risks within the digital asset ecosystem.
Innovation within guardrails
By providing a clear rules-based framework instead of an outright ban, Ghana is signalling that responsible innovation in Web3, tokenisation, and digital finance will be encouraged, but under strong compliance discipline.
Positioning in the regional and global digital economy
The regime aligns Ghana with emerging international standards on virtual asset regulation and enhances the country’s attractiveness as a regional hub for regulated digital-asset services.
In practical terms:
Existing operators in crypto trading, OTC dealing, wallets, token projects and related services will need to:
map their activities to the new law,
determine their primary regulator (SEC or BoG), and
prepare for licensing/registration once application windows open.
New entrants will have a clearer pathway to market entry but must design their business models with compliance, governance and risk controls built in from day one.
Users and investors can expect, over time:
more transparent disclosures,
clearer redress mechanisms, and
stronger safeguards for client assets,
while still bearing normal market and price-volatility risks.
The enactment of the VASP law consolidates Ghana’s broader agenda to modernise its financial system, deepen financial inclusion, and embed digital innovation within a robust regulatory framework that prioritises investor confidence and systemic stability.
