Residents of West African country Ghana have been warned by their local Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to avoid participating in any kind of cryptocurrency transactions.
The regulator has emphasized that cryptocurrencies are illegal in their nation, and Ghanaians should stay away from them. Paul Ababio, Deputy Director-General of the SEC, reiterated in an interview that there are risks associated with digital currencies, and “people have lost funds to such transactions.”
But despite the stern warning, the official has hinted that their organization might eventually decide to regulate the crypto space, saying that “it is not legal tender but we will be engaging further to come out with frameworks.”
Looking into possibilities
Still speaking about cryptocurrencies, Ababio stated that a fintech roundtable is being formed by their commission as part of its “master plan” to see through these innovations and formulate the approach that they will carry out.
Avoiding getting the hopes of Ghanaians up so soon, he clarified that this is still a work in progress and no concrete plans are made yet, and so residents of their country should avoid dealing in transactions that involve digital currencies.
Ghana, along with Nigeria and South Africa, are among the top African nations with increasing peer-to-peer crypto trade volumes.
Why there is a need for further studies
The SEC witnessed some stories of citizens losing their funds to transactions that involved cryptocurrencies, and that’s the reason why the regulator decided to study crypto further.
Ababio has further explained that there are clear risks to the nature of digital currencies, and people have lost their keys and can no longer access their funds. It is something that they are studying as of now.
Meanwhile, the SEC official did not give a specific timeframe when the commission is expected to make a final decision on the matter, and they leave it at warning people to avoid transactions that involve digital currencies.
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