Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Johnson Asiama, has confirmed that part of Ghana’s diaspora remittances is now flowing through cryptocurrency channels, bypassing traditional banking systems.
Speaking in Washington DC at the ongoing IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings, he said the central bank has observed a shift in remittance patterns, with some inflows now routed through virtual assets and stablecoins instead of regulated financial institutions.
“Crypto is one area. We always knew that the phenomenon was there,” he said. “But as you know, as some people say, crypto is like the air we breathe. It’s around us. It’s used around us. If you don’t engage in it, you don’t know it’s going on.”
He explained that the trend became evident when official remittance inflows suddenly dropped, coinciding with a period of local currency appreciation.
The shift, he said, was partly driven by Ghana’s strengthened cedi, which reduced the local value of transfers from abroad.
“But we saw the phenomenon at play when remittances suddenly reduced; apparently, the local currency had appreciated,” Dr Asiama noted.
“And so therefore the diaspora that was sending the money, some of them, were getting lesser amounts in local currency terms. And so we saw a diversion by way of the channels of transmission. It was no longer going through the banks.”
He said the Bank of Ghana later discovered that parallel market dealers were using stablecoins and other virtual assets to transfer funds into the country.
“What we observed was that some of the parallel market dealers through which these were coming indicated to us that they were using stablecoins and what have you. And so suddenly there was that active use of virtual assets, you know, to terminate even remittance inflows,” he explained.
Dr Asiama said this development confirmed the central bank’s earlier assessment that cryptocurrency activity in Ghana was more widespread than previously recognised.
“So it confirmed our sense that it was an important area. We could not leave it just as that. We have to, you know, step up and be able to regulate and monitor these,” he said.
He revealed that the Bank of Ghana, with technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has since drafted a new Virtual Assets Bill to regulate cryptocurrency operations and protect the financial system from emerging risks.
“We’ve done a lot of work in the past four months to put together the regulatory environment, and I must thank the IMF again. They’ve helped us to put together a new bill to regulate virtual assets,” Dr Asiama said.
“That bill is on its way to Parliament as I speak, and so hopefully before the end of December, we should be able to regulate cryptos in Ghana.”
The Governor stressed that regulation alone will not be enough. The ability to track and monitor digital flows, he said, will be essential for maintaining financial integrity.
“But I must say that passing a law is just one step in this process. Going down the road, the ability to monitor those flows will be key,” he said.
“So therefore, we are developing the expertise, we are developing the manpower. We are putting together a new department altogether that will help us to regulate that area.”
Dr Asiama said the central bank is determined to build the institutional capacity required to oversee Ghana’s fast-evolving digital finance ecosystem.
“But yes, it is an important area,” he concluded. “We can no longer ignore it, and we are trying very hard to be able to regulate that as well.”
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