FREEDOM COIN is not illegal, BoG did not say so

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) recently issued a statement cautioning the public and licensed financial institutions against dealing with any cryptocurrency, including the yet to be launched Freedom Coin in Ghana. 

The key word in the BoG’s statement is CAUTION. At no point did BoG say cryptocurrency, and for that matter Freedom Coin is illegal or a fraud. Neither did they say that the company promoting Freedom Coin or any cryptocurrency for that matter is doing something illegal or fraudulent.

Let’s get the picture clearly:

• Freedom Coin is NOT a fraud or illegal 

It is common knowledge that innovation always precedes regulation. Chinese tech billionaire Jack Ma is famed for saying once regulation gets into a particular space, he moves on into new innovations and make his mark before regulations get there. No serious innovator is sitting by and waiting for regulators to come up with some rules before they think outside of the box. The world does not revolve around regulations. It thrives on innovation. It is innovation that trigger new regulations, not the other way round.

Currently, we don’t have any crypto regulations in Ghana and even anywhere else in the world. Cryptocurrency is simply unregulated, but it has not stopped anyone from innovating with crypto and investing heavily into it. So Freedom Coin is NOT doing anything illegal or wrong. They are innovating and it requires people who are daring to take risks to also invest into Freedom Coin. So don’t be misled by BoG’s statement to think Freedom Coin is a fraud – it is not. BoG has not and cannot say that.

If you are the risk-taking type who has taken risks with other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ether, Dogecoin and the rest, this is just another opportunity to take more risks and trust that you will make some money. If the market plummets and you lose, I am sure you will not be surprised because you understand and have experienced the volatility of cryptocurrencies. What is critical is that BoG has NOT said Freedom Coin is illegal. They cannot even say that.

• There are NO CRYPTO LAWS in Ghana 

On flipside, it is true that BoG has not licensed Freedom Coin nor any other cryptocurrency for that matter. That is not because the coin is illegal but because there are no laws/regulations that require BoG to license any cryptocurrency. It does not mean cryptocurrencies cannot be traded.

So BoG is right in saying they have not licensed Freedom Coin. The reason they had to put that message out is to caution the public that in case you invest in Freedom Coin or any cryptocurrency, and something goes wrong, please don’t run to BoG and say they sat by and watched Freedom Coin make away with your money.

To be foretold is to be forewarned. It is that simple.

I believe at some point BoG and the rest of the world will find a way to regulate crypto. But until then, whoever invests into crypto is on their own and cannot turn round tomorrow and point fingers at BoG. Ghanaians are fond of that. When all is well, they don’t know the regulator, but when things go wrong they want to point fingers at some regulator. Please know that cryptocurrency is not regulated by anyone in any country so don’t go disturbing BoG when things don’t go in your favor.

Remember MenzGold. If you make money from Freedom Coin, enjoy it. And if you lose money, live with it – don’t come running to BoG. It is that simple.

But your take home is that BoG has NEVER said Freedom Coin is a fraud or illegal. Secondly, know that, like with all other cryptocurrencies, your investment into Freedom Coin has nothing to do with BoG or any of its regulated institutions in the country.

So if you feel strongly about investing into Freedom Coin, like me, just do it. No one will defraud you.

• Caution to BoG

My advice is for BoG to do well not to do too much “bad mouthing” about Freedom Coin or any cryptocurrency for that matter, otherwise when BoG is ready to rollout out its eCedi, it may have created a very bad impression about digital currencies, such that people may not trust it that much.

Don’t be too caught up in the pull-him-down syndrome and forget that soon you will be rolling out a regulated digital currency, and later you might be coming up with regulations for the existing cryptocurrencies and all the related technologies like blockchain, NFTs and others.

Caution, BoG, caution!