On the 27th of March 2019, the MP for Juaben Mrs. Boateng Ama Pomaa made a statement on the floor of the Ghanaian Parliament. In her statement, she admonished that the nations Legislative body should "EXPAND THEIR KNOWLEDGE ON CRYPTOCURRENCIES AND PIONEER A LEGISLATION FOR THE TECHNOLOGY".
This statement after the presentation brought some divided views and commentaries from her colleagues on the floor of the August house. Some of the members who spoke during the sitting on the matter were Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Hon. Asibey Yeboah amongst others.
Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa who spoke mentioned that to the best of his knowledge cryptocurrencies (referring to bitcoin) was created in the year 2014. He further went on to liken the technology to that of a Ponzi scheme. Likewise Hon. Asibey Yeboah who also said Cryptocurrencies (referring to bitcoin) was $20.00 the past year and now it is $6.00, he also went on to liken it to a Ponzi scheme and also said the technology is not regulated and has been banned in some countries yet have to be careful about how to deal with it he cautioned.
This news came in two folds and was seen as a Positive pose and many had called for a broader discussion on the topic, but some of the public including mass media in Ghana had taken the other side of the coin which is to spread total false and negative views on the technology. It was shocking to note that the first publication that came out after the Statement was read by the Member of Parliament says that "members of parliament warns against cryptocurrency trading".
The SEC of Ghana, on the 29th of March released what is to be seen as a rushed Publication to spread total fear in the eyes of the Public. A two-page document was released to caution the public on cryptocurrency. It became obvious that the Nation's SEC is not well informed on what cryptocurrencies are and what types of cryptocurrencies are in operating currently.
The errors that expose the SEC are:
The SEC only thinks of Cryptocurrencies and its underlying technology only as an Asset and nothing else.
The SEC seems not to know how the technology operates.
The SEC does not know the Initials of these coins.
The crypto community took the time to go through the Publication by the SEC and had come out with their findings,
It is well to note that cryptocurrency cannot only be used as an asset, a publication by cointelegraph, stated that,
CRYPTOCURRENCIES lack a single, definite existence, with some nations treating them as money (e.g., Japan,Germany) and others treating them as an unregulated, speculative asset (e.g., Mexico, Denmark), making them the financial equivalent of Schrödinger's cat. However, as this review of classifications of crypto throughout the world will show, cryptocurrencies are all these things and more, which is why they deserve to be classified by future legislation according their own, unique qualities.
It is also good to note that cryptocurrencies pose no threat to anyone who wants to ply that route unless they want to use dubious and greed to acquired wealth in this industry.
And lastly, the SEC made the huge mistake of their life not to read over to find out that the XRP, XRP, AND RIPPLE are actually the same thing.
The cryptocurrency community has been seeking to have a roundtable discussion with the government officials to iron out and bring a unified front which will seek to work on leveraging the potentials of this disruptive technology.