Ghana’s central bank is drafting rules aimed specifically at stablecoins. These are the digital tokens pegged to currencies like the U.S. dollar, and they have become one of the most widely used parts of the crypto economy.
Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Asiama announced the plan on Monday at the African Virtual Assets Summit in Accra. He said the bank is preparing a stablecoin directive that will set clear requirements for stablecoin activity in the country and clarify which activities are permitted. He called stablecoins “a priority” within Ghana’s wider framework for virtual assets.
The governor did not say when the directive would be issued. He also did not say what it would require of issuers or service providers.
What Stablecoins Are
A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency built to hold a steady value. Bitcoin’s price can swing by thousands of dollars in a day. A stablecoin aims to stay at one fixed price, usually $1.
Most do this by holding reserves. When a user buys one token, the issuer keeps a dollar, or a short-term asset such as a U.S. Treasury bill, in reserve. In principle, a holder can redeem the token for that dollar at any time.
The two largest are Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC. Together they account for most of a market now worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Other designs exist. Some stablecoins are backed by other cryptocurrencies. “Algorithmic” stablecoins try to hold their peg through code alone. That model failed badly in 2022, when the TerraUSD token collapsed and wiped out about $40 billion in value.
Why They Matter in Africa
Stablecoins started as plumbing for crypto traders. In emerging markets, they have taken on a bigger role.
For many users in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya, a dollar stablecoin is a cheap, fast way to hold dollars. It offers a hedge against a weakening local currency. It can also be used to pay foreign suppliers or receive money from relatives abroad, often at lower cost than banks or money transfer firms.
Ghana knows that appeal well. The cedi lost more than half its value against the dollar during the 2022 economic crisis. The country then defaulted on most of its external debt and turned to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout. In that kind of environment, a token that tracks the dollar is attractive.
The same features worry central banks. Widespread use of dollar tokens can weaken demand for the local currency. It can make capital controls harder to enforce. It can also make it easier to move money outside the banking system, where anti-money laundering checks apply.
The Legal Groundwork
The new directive builds on the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 (Act 1154). That law gave Ghana its first dedicated legal framework for crypto businesses.
The act splits oversight between the Bank of Ghana and the Securities and Exchange Commission. A Virtual Assets Coordinating Committee now coordinates the public institutions involved.
Mr. Asiama said the central bank is working with the SEC and the Financial Intelligence Centre on the regulatory instruments and supervisory arrangements. The Financial Intelligence Centre is Ghana’s anti-money laundering agency.
This marks a shift. For years, the Bank of Ghana kept its distance from crypto and issued warnings that such assets were not legal tender and were not protected. The bank is now moving to license and supervise the sector instead.
A Risk-Based Approach
The governor said the rules would not treat every crypto activity the same.
“Not all virtual asset activities present the same risks,” he said. He added that regulation should match the nature, scale and complexity of each activity.
He said the goal was not to choke off innovation. It was to build confidence for responsible businesses and investors while protecting consumers and preserving the integrity of the financial system.
Following a Global Trend
Ghana is not alone. Regulators worldwide have singled out stablecoins for their own rules because they look more like payment instruments than speculative assets.
The European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, known as MiCA, imposes reserve and licensing requirements on stablecoin issuers. The United States passed the GENIUS Act in 2025, its first federal stablecoin law. It requires issuers to hold full reserves in cash or short-term Treasuries.
Those frameworks give a hint of what Ghana could adopt: rules on reserve quality, regular audits, redemption rights for holders, and limits on who can issue tokens.
