BoG Orders Banks, PSPs to Cut Ties with Unauthorised USD Wallets on Crypto Platforms
The Bank of Ghana has directed banks, payment service providers and other regulated financial institutions to immediately stop supporting unauthorised fiat currency wallet services operated by crypto platforms for users in Ghana in a fresh regulatory move aimed at tightening oversight of digital finance and foreign currency transactions.
The directive, issued on June 12, 2026, targets fiat currency wallet arrangements denominated mainly in United States dollars and offered by some crypto platforms to Ghanaian users through bank transfers, payment cards and other payment channels.
According to the central bank, such arrangements typically involve activities that require prior authorisation under the Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019, Act 987, the Foreign Exchange Act, 2006, Act 723, and other applicable regulatory requirements.
The Bank of Ghana said the relevant crypto platforms offering these services have not been authorised to undertake such activities in Ghana.
“Banks, Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions, Electronic Money Issuers, Payment Service Providers, and other Regulated Financial Institutions are hereby directed to refrain from establishing or maintaining arrangements that facilitate the funding, operation, settlement, or customer access to unauthorised fiat currency wallet services offered to users in Ghana,” the directive stated.
The notice further ordered institutions currently providing banking, payment, card acquiring, settlement or related services in support of such arrangements to take immediate steps to discontinue that support.
The move marks one of the clearest supervisory interventions yet by the Bank of Ghana on the intersection between crypto platforms, dollar-denominated digital wallets and the formal financial system.
While the directive does not mention any crypto platform by name, its wording suggests growing concern within the central bank over the use of regulated banking and payment infrastructure to support foreign-currency wallet products that have not passed through Ghana’s licensing and supervisory framework.
The regulator’s concern appears to centre on two main issues: first, whether such platforms are effectively offering payment or wallet services without authorisation; and second, whether dollar-denominated wallet arrangements create foreign exchange exposures outside the regulated financial system.
For Ghana’s banks and payment companies, the directive creates an immediate compliance obligation. Institutions must now review existing commercial, technical and settlement relationships with crypto platforms and determine whether any of those relationships facilitate unauthorised fiat wallet services for Ghanaian users.
This could affect bank transfers, card acquiring arrangements, merchant settlement channels, payment gateway integrations and other related services that allow customers to fund or access dollar-denominated wallet balances on crypto platforms.
The directive also raises wider questions about the future of crypto-linked payment services in Ghana. The Bank of Ghana has in recent years maintained a cautious position on crypto assets, while continuing to study virtual asset service providers and the risks they present to financial stability, consumer protection, capital flows and anti-money laundering controls.
The latest directive does not amount to a general ban on crypto activity. However, it sends a strong signal that crypto-related firms seeking to provide fiat wallet, settlement or payment services in Ghana must operate within the country’s licensing and foreign exchange regulatory framework.
Industry participants are therefore likely to face increased pressure to regularise their operations, strengthen compliance documentation and engage the regulator where their products involve fiat currency balances, payment rails or foreign exchange functions.
For customers, the immediate implication is that access to some USD wallet funding or withdrawal channels on affected crypto platforms could be disrupted if local banks and payment firms withdraw support in line with the central bank’s directive.
The Bank of Ghana warned that failure by regulated institutions to comply with the directive may result in supervisory or enforcement action.
The directive was signed by the Secretary of the Bank, Aimee Vyda Quashie.
The development comes at a time when Ghana is seeking to strengthen confidence in the foreign exchange market and ensure that digital financial innovation does not undermine monetary, payment systems and foreign exchange regulation.
By ordering regulated institutions to cut support for unauthorised fiat wallet arrangements, the Bank of Ghana is effectively drawing a regulatory boundary between innovation in digital finance and activities that require formal authorisation.
The central bank has also asked institutions requiring enquiries or technical support related to the registration process to contact its dedicated virtual asset service provider email channel.
The directive is expected to trigger immediate internal compliance reviews across banks, electronic money issuers and payment service providers, particularly those with direct or indirect relationships with crypto platforms serving Ghanaian users.
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