The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has clarified the inclusion of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) in its newly launched Virtual Asset Regulatory Sandbox, following questions about why the state gold trading body appears alongside cryptocurrency and fintech firms.

According to the Commission, GoldBod’s participation is tied to ongoing work on innovative financial products linked to gold, including gold-backed securities, derivatives, and the potential tokenisation of gold within Ghana’s capital market framework.

“The Goldbod Act monopolises the trading, export, and custody of gold in Ghana with Goldbod. The framework that we are currently working on will see Goldbod as the sole Custodian of all gold-backed securities in Gha,na in compliance with the Goldbod Act.

The clarification comes as the SEC officially admitted 11 companies into the regulatory sandbox to pilot digital asset and financial technology products under the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025.

The sandbox programme will run for 12 months, allowing participating firms to test their services in a controlled environment while the Commission evaluates operational risks and finalises licensing rules for the sector.

Companies admitted include Africoin, Blu Penguin, GoldBod, HanyPay, Hyro Exchange GH Ltd, HSB Global, KoinKoin, Whitebit, Vaulta, XChain and BSystem Ltd.

Under the framework being developed, GoldBod is expected to pilot a gold tokenisation programme through a special purpose vehicle, while also acting as the custodian of the physical gold underlying such securities.

The exercise is expected to help the SEC develop guidelines for gold-backed securities and tokenised gold assets in Ghana.