Ghana’s free market structure prohibits regulation of cryptocurrencies – Banking Consultant
Banking consultant Nana Otuo Acheampong has blamed Ghana’s free-market economy for the Bank of Ghana’s inability to institute punitive measures to prevent persons from introducing and operating cryptocurrency schemes in the country.
The remarks follow recent press releases by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) warning the public against patronizing cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and the “Freedom Coin” in Ghana.
According to the Central Bank, it has not licensed activities relating to digital currencies under the Payments System Act 2003.
The BoG stated in one of its notices that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are not regulated under any laws in Ghana, and are therefore not backed by any guarantees or safeguards.
But as more and more people invest in and trade cryptocurrencies around the world, interest in them continues to grow, dividing governments around the globe on how to handle their regulation.
For some stakeholders, more needs to be done to stop such digital currencies from taking hold in the system and potentially leading to a loss of funds for members of the public.
In an interview with Citi Business News, Banking Consultant Nana Otuo Acheampong noted that the Central Bank can only warn people for now.
“In a free-market economy, there are certain things you don’t have the legal backing to do. Nobody can tell anyone to trade or not to trade. All the regulator can do is to warn you on where not to put your money. It’s your freedom of choice. So if the Central Bank has warned you that a particular path is dangerous, and you still decide to use it, then you can’t blame them. Their job is to warn you.”
Source: Ghana Business
