Mensah Thompson, Deputy Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in charge of Finance, has issued a stern warning to influencers and celebrities.
The Deputy Director-General of SEC highlighted that only licensed and authorised persons are allowed to promote virtual assets.
According to Mensah Thompson, the Virtual Asset Market is volatile, and the specific rules have been designed to guide advertisement, promotion, and advocacy.
Speaking at the National Virtual Asset Literacy Programme for Virtual Asset Market Operators, Mensah Thompson explained, “We all know how volatile the virtual asset space is. And that’s why specific rules have been designed to guide advertisement, promotion, and advocacy.
And so influencers who want to work in this space, please be reminded that there are rules concerning advocacy and influencing in the virtual asset space,” he said.
“And only licenced and authorised persons will be allowed to engage in advocacy, advertisement, or promotion in the virtual asset space. And there are consequences for this breach.
And so we want to send this message to you, that if you want to work in that space as an influencer, take steps to contact the SEC and the Bank of Ghana for the rules that guide that,” he added.
Some netizens reacting to the news stated, “Influencers must do thorough background checks before they accept any promotion deal… so it’s a good move to protect the consumer!!”.
One X user added, “They have already started promoting a lot of things. You people must be online to sanction anyone who is not required to advocate or advise on these issues.
Many have lost billions, and many have served and/or are still in prison because of deception about cryptocurrency and other virtual assets. People must not be misled”.
‘I agree perfectly with this. You can’t just get up and drive traffic to a particular brand when you are not certified. What if that brand is a scam? Will you be liable? The reason I concur with the Chinese is that influencers must have a degree in their field of endeavour, a netizen added.
Also, there is legislation currently awaiting presidential assent which aims to regulate cryptocurrency and virtual asset activities and improve Ghana’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing controls.
In related news, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, has revealed that the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has recovered US$15.1 million defrauded from Ghanaians through virtual assets.
According to the Attorney-General, the US$15.1 million defrauded from Ghanaians in an online investment scheme dates back to 2019 through virtual assets such as cryptocurrency.
The AG revealed that EOCO has frozen and recovered virtual assets worth US$15.19 million that were hidden in foreign jurisdictions.
Speaking during the Government’s Accountability Series on Thursday, December 18, 2025, Dr Ayine stated, “… EOCO successfully used our local laws to freeze and recover virtual assets hidden in foreign jurisdictions. As a result, on November 19, 2025, Zodiac Custody successfully converted the said crypto assets of the criminal enterprise and paid same to EOCO’s exhibit account in the amount of 15,191,730 USD and 13 cents,” he said.
“The criminal enterprise targeted our citizens, defrauded them, and laundered the criminal proceeds into cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, USDT, and Ethereum in an attempt to further hide the proceeds from the reach of Ghana’s law enforcement.
“With this recovery, millions of funds which were looted out of the country have been successfully returned to our motherland,” he added.
Watch the video below:
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has cautioned social media influencers in Ghana against advertising or promoting cryptocurrency and other virtual asset products without the required authorization from the SEC and the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
— EDHUB🌍ℹ (@eddie_wrt) December 22, 2025
The warning was issued by… pic.twitter.com/sHJLa8fvEr