Ghana opens crypto trading sandbox with 11 firms under new VASP law

• Ghana's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) started a 12-month regulatory sandbox for virtual asset service providers.
• The companies will be able to run their products in a controlled environment while regulators monitor risks and compliance.
• The results of the pilot program will be used to guide the final licensing rules under the new Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025.

Ghana’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said 11 companies have been granted access to a regulatory sandbox to test cryptocurrency and digital asset services under the country’s Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025.

The program allows companies to run their products in a controlled environment while regulators monitor risks and compliance.

The sandbox will run for 12 months and sits at the center of Ghana’s early efforts to bring oversight to the crypto sector, according to a press release.

Companies in the first cohort include asset tokenization firms like Africoin, Blu Penguin, Vaulta, XChain and Goldbod as well as cryptocurrency exchanges like Hyro Exchange, HanyPay and WhiteBit.

The commission said firms whose products are market-ready and meet regulatory requirements could transition to a full license after six months. Others may remain in the sandbox for the remaining period to refine their services.

The SEC said the exercise will also help it shape detailed licensing guidelines for different types of crypto businesses. Data gathered during the pilot will inform rules covering areas such as investor protection, market integrity and anti-money laundering controls.

Once the sandbox closes, the regulator plans to publish the final guidelines and open the licensing process to a broader set of virtual asset service providers.

• Disrupting a Stagnant Market: Pudgy Penguins is utilizing a "Negative CAC" model to challenge the traditional $31.7B licensed toy industry by treating physical merchandise as a profitable user acquisition tool rather than just a final product.

• Senator Adam Schiff has introduced the DEATH BETS Act, which would explicitly ban prediction market contracts tied to terrorism, war, assassination and individual deaths.
• The bill would remove the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's discretion over such contracts by prohibiting any CFTC-registered exchange from listing them, including those closely correlated with a person's death.
• Schiff's proposal, backed by forthcoming companion legislation in the House, directly challenges CFTC Chair Mike Selig's move toward looser regulation of prediction markets after the agency scrapped a broad ban on political betting.

Disclosure & Polices: CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of Bullish (NYSE:BLSH), an institutionally focused global digital asset platform that provides market infrastructure and information services. Bullish owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets and CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish equity-based compensation.