SEC unveils sandbox rules for crypto service providers

Ghana’s Securities and Exchange Commission has released new guidelines for a regulatory sandbox for Virtual Asset Service Providers, in a move that advances implementation of the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025.

The framework creates a controlled setting where selected firms can trial new products and services before they are fully introduced to the market.

According to the SEC, the sandbox will give regulators the chance to monitor how emerging virtual asset products interact with the country’s conventional securities market, while also assessing the risks and opportunities they present.

The Commission says the initiative is intended to support innovation, improve investor safeguards and generate practical evidence that can help shape the country’s long-term regulatory approach.

Under the arrangement, a limited number of providers will be allowed to operate within a structured testing environment designed to balance innovation with oversight.

In a statement issued on Monday, 9 March, the SEC said the exercise forms part of a wider regulatory effort being undertaken together with the Bank of Ghana and the Financial Intelligence Centre.

The three institutions are working jointly to ensure that the growth of Ghana’s digital asset sector is backed by a legal and supervisory framework capable of addressing concerns such as money laundering, terrorism financing and cyber threats.

Even so, the SEC has made clear that participation in the sandbox does not remove compliance obligations.

It noted that it recently joined the Bank of Ghana in directing all virtual asset service providers, including firms admitted into the sandbox, to avoid unauthorised mass-market promotions. The position, regulators say, reflects the need for innovation to develop within clearly enforced rules.

The sandbox will cover a range of activities in the digital asset space. These include exchanges and trading platforms, token issuance and tokenisation, brokerage and investment advisory services, as well as exchange-traded funds and asset management services linked to virtual assets.

The SEC says the sandbox is expected to play an important transitional role as the broader licensing regime under Act 1154 is developed, helping regulators manage the shift from traditional finance to a more digitised asset market.