Expected Outcome
Ghana can learn from the North American market as it develops its own framework for how to take part in the trillion dollar global cryptocurrency industry. In Canada, regulated cryptocurrency dealing and brokering activities take place within the banking system. Canada’s banks are globally renowned for being risk intolerant, and it hasn’t been an easy story for the cryptocurrency sector to become banked. The value of this webinar will be to contribute to regulatory and legal options relevant in light of Ghana’s legal framework, and study what changes are needed in the future to ensure the country can fashion regulations consistent with global best practices. Ghana will chart its own course but it must be one that’s informed by the years of experience in other jurisdictions.
Why Now?
The Bank of Ghana on Thursday, February 25, 2021, launched a regulatory and innovation sandbox pilot with the aim of enabling an inclusive regulatory environment that promotes FinTech and supports innovation. The Bank of Ghana indicated that it will give preference to products and services leveraging blockchain technology; however, cryptocurrency activities are not permissible. https://www.bog.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/PRESS-RELEASE-BANK-OF-GHANA-SANDBOX-PILOT.pdf
Ghanaians, like people across the globe, are already holders of cryptocurrency and are building businesses. Government initiatives, like that of the Bank of Ghana, must be coordinated so that a comprehensive system for lawful business can grow Ghana’s digital economy.
Regulatory Evolution
Cryptocurrency regulation is evolving globally. In some countries, there are selected permissible cryptocurrency activities, and in others, there are no restrictions. In a few cases, countries have placed a complete ban on cryptocurrency, while others have created a pathway to regulations by enabling regulatory sandbox opportunities. On the African continent, cryptocurrencies are not illegal in South Africa, which has a relatively well-established and regulated cryptocurrency market. West Africans have been active in the market, but have generally been forced to work for foreign companies if they want to build innovative products.
The Ghanaian government has an opportunity to unleash local talent by constructing a new regulatory regime that follows the successful model of Canada, where regulations now include anti-money laundering, consumer protection, and third-party qualified custodians. The “Canadian Model” was largely created in the wake of a major fraud, called QuadrigaCX. The Ghanaian Model can bypass these painful lessons and skip right to a regulatory solution that works, drawing on what’s been built in Canada since the first rules were created in 2014.
Broader Blockchain Applications
Cryptocurrency is here to stay; therefore, forward-thinking entities are watching this sector while at the same time enabling strategies to leverage blockchain technologies. Even if the door on cryptocurrency stays shut in Ghana due to its regulations, the world has changed and the door can’t stay closed forever. Global banks and other multinationals are already adopting their own stablecoin systems, payment networks, and audit systems that take advantage of blockchain technology, inspired by cryptocurrency. Board rooms at banking, finance and FinTech institutions are constantly considering how cryptocurrency will impact their businesses in the context of regulatory moves, how to interact with regulated cryptocurrency entities in other parts of the world and how to prepare for a future where cryptocurrencies in some shape or form may be permissible. It is essential for entities to understand how cryptocurrency regulations are evolving and keep abreast with changes as they occur.
About the Speaker: Addison Cameron-Huff, Blockchain Product Counsel
Mr. Cameron-Huff is an experienced lawyer, blockchain industry participant, software architect, programmer, and consultant. He has provided consulting advice to two major Canadian regulators in the field of cryptocurrency, and provided continuing professional development to the regulator of lawyers in the same area. He has been an advocate for the industry for many years, and has been published in major publications in Canada and the United States. His work crosses legal, technical, and business domains. His blog on cryptocurrency topics features 300 articles going back to 2013.
Mr. Cameron-Huff is a lawyer with a strong tech background, having scaled and managed a blockchain wallet company that served more than 1,000,000 users (Jaxx), and provided legal advice to founders of Ethereum, taught at the University of Toronto law school, and was one of the first lawyers in Canada to work in blockchain. He has been a part of Toronto’s cryptocurrency industry since the start of 2014 and has given talks to audiences as diverse as the Law Society of Ontario and all levels of law enforcement in Canada (local police, OPP, and RCMP). He previously worked as a programmer and won programming competitions in the United States and Canada (Yahoo! HackU in 2009, Techcrunch Disrupt in 2010 and PayPay X Innovate in 2010). A co-founder of Ethereum describes him as “Ethereum’s first lawyer”.
Prior to starting his law practice, Mr. Cameron-Huff was the founder of a government monitoring service used by lobbyists, government ministries, and major corporations to track speeches in Parliament and changes in laws (federally and provincially). He also co-founded, and wrote the software for, one of the world’s largest search engines for international law: global-regulation.com.
Before starting his own law practice, Mr. Cameron-Huff worked at McCarthy Tetrault LLP (one of the largest law firms in Canada) and BlackBerry in the technology licensing group.
Bookings
Bookings are closed for this event.