Ghanaian ace dancehall artist, Stonebwoy, has reacted to a caution-statement issued by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to the public against participating in an impending launch of a cryptocurrency investment scheme, SidiCoin.
Reacting to BoG’s statement, Stonebwoy, who had been tweeting and promoting SidiCion clarified that he has not been paid or appointed to officially endorse the scheme.
The dancehall musician noted that his advocacy was for people to learn more about non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Web3.0, the metaverse, and crypto-assets. He however admitted that he was over-enthusiastic in his advocacy and as such urged the public to heed to BoG’s caution.
“For the avoidance of doubt, I am not an ambassador for SidiCoin, I am not associated with the product nor have I been rewarded to promote it. The developing world of NFTS, Web3.0, the metaverse, and digital/crypto-assets and their ability to change people’s financial fortunes has caught my attention in recent times and I simply thought I was sharing a Ghanaian version I had discovered for people, who are as interested as I am, to join me on my learning path.
“My advocacy was for people to join a club for us to learn further information on how to not be left out of the new global order, not to encourage people to invest in a financial scheme of any sort. In hindsight, I should have hastened slowly but I blame over-enthusiasm from all the interesting things I am discovering about the adoption of these disruptive technologies. May we all do as the Bank of Ghana says and exercise caution even as we strive to do better for ourselves and our communities”.
Stonebwoy
Before this, the award-winning musician was persistent with his SIDICOIN promotion. He insisted that NFT is a new market that is helping people globally. His assertions sparked controversies and he even engaged in an online argument with Bridget Otoo.
However, it seems the rift between Stonebwoy and Bridget has now come to an end. Shortly after Stonebwoy released his reaction statement, Bridget Otoo retweeted the statement and thanked Stonebwoy for “doing the right thing” even though “it wasn’t easy” for him to admit.
BoG’s Caution to the Public
In a statement, BoG noted that neither the investment scheme nor its promoters had obtained approval from the central bank to operate in the banking and payment services sector. The Bank also iterated that cryptocurrency was not regulated under any law in Ghana.
“Further to previous notices issued by Bank of Ghana on such schemes, in particular Notice NO. BG/GOV/SEC/2018/02, Bank of Ghana underscores the fact that such schemes are not regulated under any law in Ghana,” BoG said. “The general public is advised to exercise caution with regards to trading in cryptocurrencies and other unregulated investment schemes”.
The Bank further cautioned all regulated institutions including banks, specialized deposit-taking institutions, dedicated electronic money issuers, and payment service providers to desist from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions and unlicensed investment schemes, through their platforms or agent outlets.
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