Banks and virtual asset firms working together is no longer a novel idea in Africa. It is already happening in the continent’s largest economies.
In South Africa, First National Bank (FNB) launched cryptocurrency investing through a partnership with local exchange VALR, putting Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana and USDT within reach of its customers through its existing investment platform. Absa, meanwhile, has moved into institutional Bitcoin custody.
Together, these moves show established banks embracing digital assets across the spectrum, from everyday retail investing to services for professional investors, with specialist firms providing the technology, market access and operational expertise. It is the model the rest of the continent is now following.
Ghana takes the next step
OmniBSIC Bank Ghana Ltd has now opened exploratory discussions with KoinKoin Ghana Ltd on a potential collaboration in virtual assets, approached from a compliance-first perspective.
Should the talks progress, they could build one of the first such bridges between Ghana’s banking sector and the virtual asset economy, placing access to Bitcoin and other digital assets inside the familiar, trusted environment of a mainstream bank.
The discussions are exploratory. No agreement has been reached, no terms have been settled, and no product has been announced. Any arrangement would be subject to due diligence, the approvals of both institutions, and applicable regulatory requirements. The conversations so far, however, have been encouraging, and the direction of travel is unmistakable.
The rules are in place
The timing is no accident. With the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 (Act 1154), Ghana became one of the first African countries to put virtual assets on a full statutory footing, with clear roles for the Bank of Ghana and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC Ghana).
Virtual assets have travelled a long way, from the fringes of finance to the agendas of established banks. That journey says two things: virtual assets have earned their legitimacy as part of the financial system, and the frameworks governing them have matured.
KoinKoin Ghana is building squarely inside that framework. It holds a Virtual Asset Regulatory Sandbox Licence from SEC Ghana, issued to the regulator’s first cohort of virtual asset exchanges, and puts compliance at the centre of how it operates.
“Act 1154 gave Ghana the rules. Now banks and providers have to show those rules working in practice,” said Mimi Kufuor, CEO of KoinKoin Ghana. “Our work in the SEC Ghana sandbox has been about proving that a
virtual asset exchange can meet the standards a bank expects of any partner, and that is what makes a conversation like this possible.”
Accra sets the tone
Earlier this week, Accra hosted the Africa Virtual Asset Summit (AVAS 2026), convened by SEC Ghana at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City on 2 and 3 November. It was a landmark event. Ghana’s Finance Minister, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana and the Director-General of SEC Ghana were among the keynote speakers, with regulators, central banks, banks, asset managers and virtual asset service providers in the room together.
Under the theme “Tokenisation: Africa’s Pathway Towards Building a Trusted, Inclusive and Innovative Virtual Asset Ecosystem”, the summit centred on a proposed Accra Declaration: a shared set of principles to guide the responsible growth of virtual assets and tokenisation across the continent. Its message was clear. Africa’s participation in virtual assets is already significant, and the task now is to bring it inside proper frameworks through stronger dialogue between regulators and the market. Collaboration between established banks and regulated virtual asset providers is exactly the kind of step that vision calls for.
Olaniyi Atose, Founder and Global CEO of KoinKoin, was in the room and came away inspired. “When I set up KoinKoin Ghana five years ago, the regulations were not clear, and the industry had no direction,” he said. “Today we are proud to see how far the industry has come, with regulators, banks and providers sitting at the same table. There is still a fair way to go, but the path is now clear.”
A bank built for what comes next
OmniBSIC has made no secret of its digital ambitions. Through its OmniBSIC 5.0 agenda, the bank is investing in embedded finance, personalised banking and new services for corporate and diaspora customers, and it has already shown a willingness to bring new technology into mainstream banking. That makes it a natural partner for a conversation about how regulated virtual assets could sit alongside the services its customers already use every day.
KoinKoin: “This is the new normal”
For Atose, the talks with OmniBSIC show how quickly the landscape is changing.
“The conversation has moved beyond whether virtual assets belong in the future of finance. They do. The question now is how we bring them to millions of people responsibly, with the right controls, governance and regulatory oversight,” he said.
“That a bank as forward-looking as OmniBSIC is having this conversation speaks volumes. It reflects both the legitimacy of virtual assets and the maturity of the frameworks that now govern them.”
Olaniyi Atose, Founder and Global CEO, KoinKoin
“The future belongs to models that combine the trust and reach of established banks with the technology and specialist expertise of virtual asset companies. Engagement with regulators, a strong compliance culture and clear operating standards are the foundation everything else is built on.”
Atose said KoinKoin’s approach has been shaped by its engagement with SEC Ghana and the Bank of Ghana, and that any eventual arrangement would align with the relevant regulatory requirements and the respective responsibilities of each institution.
Why this collaboration matters
An OmniBSIC–KoinKoin collaboration would unite two powerful sets of capabilities: a bank’s established customer relationships and financial infrastructure, and a specialist virtual asset company’s technology and market expertise. Depending on the scope ultimately agreed, areas for assessment could include digital asset access within the bank’s digital channels, customer onboarding, compliance integration and services for corporate and diaspora customers.
“A bank should be able to offer virtual assets without taking on risks it was never built to manage,” said Kufuor. “Our role is to carry the compliance load, from customer onboarding to transaction monitoring, so the bank can focus on what it already does well, which is serving its customers.”
Above all, the model tackles one of the industry’s longest-standing challenges: making virtual assets accessible through the channels people already know and trust, while keeping strong safeguards in place for consumers and the wider financial system.
Ambition must go hand in hand with responsibility. Digital assets carry real risks, including price volatility, cybersecurity threats, fraud and potential losses. Clear disclosures, customer education, transaction monitoring and robust safeguards would be essential to any offering.
“Many Ghanaians already hold digital assets, often through channels that give them very little protection,” said Kufuor. “If that access moves inside a bank they already know, the protections have to move with it. We are taking this one step at a time, because getting it right matters more than getting it done quickly.”
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The next chapter of digital finance in Ghana
What began in South Africa is now spreading across the continent. Ghana, with an active crypto community and a regulatory framework now in place, has the chance to write its own playbook, built around local needs and regulatory priorities.
As Kwame Nkrumah put it, “Africa must unite.” As virtual assets become woven into markets across the continent, the question for Ghanaian financial institutions is no longer whether to take the sector seriously, but how to lead in it responsibly.
If these exploratory talks progress, OmniBSIC and KoinKoin could show exactly how Ghana’s banks and its virtual asset industry can come together to shape the next era of digital finance.
About KoinKoin
KoinKoin is a pan-African regulated digital asset exchange operating through KoinKoin Ghana Ltd, 5 Lentil Street, Accra, Ghana, and KoinKoin Global Network Ltd (RC 1523634), Lagos, Nigeria.
Media enquiries: media@koinkoin.io | ola.atose@koinkoin.com | koinkoin.io
4 Comments
Traditional banking meets digital innovation.
Crypto adoption is gaining momentum in Ghana.
Interesting developments for African fintech.
Partnerships could open new opportunities.