GoldBod among 20 companies in SEC’s expanded virtual asset sandbox

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has increased the number of companies admitted into its virtual asset regulatory sandbox from 11 to 20 as it gathers information to guide the regulation of digital asset services in Ghana. The expansion is intended to give the regulator a broader understanding of the services being offered under the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 (Act 1154), and help shape the licensing framework for the sector.

Speaking at the Africa Virtual Assets Summit 2026, the Acting Director-General of the SEC, Dr James Klutse Avedzi, said the additional companies would provide the regulator with more data on the different activities taking place in the virtual asset industry. He identified tokenisation as one of the services covered by the regulatory framework, describing it as an established licensing category.

“Tokenisation is an explicit licensing category, not an afterthought,” he said. Tokenisation involves converting ownership rights or interests in physical or financial assets into digital tokens that can be recorded and transferred using blockchain technology. Dr Avedzi disclosed that live tokenisation pilot projects were already underway, with Ghana exploring how blockchain technology could help formalise its largely informal gold supply chain.

“Ghana is deliberately testing whether blockchain can formalise its large, partly informal gold supply chain,” he said. GoldBod among companies in regulatory sandbox Some of the companies admitted into the expanded sandbox include Africoin Ghana, the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), The Blue Penguin Company, HSB Global Fintech and BSystems. Dr Avedzi said companies that satisfy the required compliance standards could apply for full licences after completing their participation in the sandbox.

He explained that information gathered during the testing period would help the SEC develop licensing requirements and regulatory rules for the different virtual asset services. SEC working on tokenisation rules Despite the expansion of the sandbox, Dr Avedzi said several regulatory requirements for tokenised securities were still being developed. These include capital requirements, custody standards, disclosure obligations and investor protection measures.

He also identified outstanding legal questions concerning property and title rights, the enforceability of claims represented by digital tokens, and the regulation of secondary markets for tokenised real-world assets. On the legislative front, he said the Securities Industry Act, 2016 (Act 929), was being amended to address potential classification challenges involving tokenised instruments.

Dr Avedzi said Ghana was still completing its regulatory strategy and legislative framework, even as supervised testing of virtual asset services continued. A fully operational licensing regime is yet to be established. He projected that the first group of companies could graduate from the sandbox and obtain full licences between late 2026 and early 2027.