News

The Registration Authority (“RA”) of ADGM, the international financial centre (“IFC”) of Abu Dhabi, has published its Guidance on Crypto Mining Activities in and from ADGM (“the Guidance”), providing clear governance and commercial licensing direction for crypto mining operators as well as businesses conducting crypto mining activities within or from ADGM. With the publication of the Guidance, ADGM has introduced the first comprehensive crypto mining Guidance by an international financial centre in the region.

Issued under section 23 of the Commercial Licensing Regulations 2025, the Guidance treats crypto mining as a licensable commercial activity overseen by the RA and not a regulated financial service. It adopts a technology-neutral approach applying across Proof-of-Work, Proof-of-Stake and future consensus mechanisms.

H.E. Rashed Al Blooshi, CEO of the RA of ADGM, said, “Abu Dhabi’s economy is increasingly shaped by digital infrastructure, and crypto mining sits at the intersection of energy, technology and capital. With this Guidance, ADGM is open to responsible crypto mining. We are giving operators a clear commercial licensing pathway, proportionate supervision calibrated to scale and risk, and certainty on where the regulatory perimeter resides. Businesses that meet high standards of governance, transparency and operational integrity will find in Abu Dhabi a jurisdiction where they can plan, invest and grow with confidence. This Guidance reflects ADGM’s wider approach to innovation, enabling new business models to develop within a trusted and well-governed environment.”

Key features of the Guidance on Crypto Mining Activities include:

• Highlighting the RA’s dedicated commercial licence for crypto mining (business activity code 7230).
• Emphasis on the clear boundary between commercial crypto mining and Financial Services Regulatory Authority (“FSRA”)-regulated activities, supported by a pre-application self-assessment.
• Providing clarity as to the RA’s governance and transparency expectations, including disclosure of corporate structure and ultimate beneficial ownership.
• Confirmation of the confidential disclosure of on-chain reward-flow addresses.
• Providing clarity as to the RA’s risk-based supervision, calibrated to scale and reflect the risk profile of individual operations.
• Providing information on the RA’s reasonable-oversight approach for ADGM-registered headquarters overseeing global operations.

This Guidance is the first phase of the Registration Authority's approach to crypto mining in ADGM. In a second phase, the RA will develop a regulatory framework for the activity, on which it will consult with the market in due course.

The Guidance follows an eight-week public consultation published earlier in the year, which generated substantive feedback which helped to tailor the Guidance appropriately.

The publication of the Guidance builds on ADGM’s established approach to strengthen and enable the digital assets and emerging technologies environment within its jurisdiction and provides greater regulatory certainty for responsible crypto mining operators seeking to establish and grow their activities from Abu Dhabi, while supporting its role as a catalyst for the emirate’s broader economic vision.

The Guidance on Crypto Mining Activities in and from ADGM can be accessed here.