ADGM launches discussion paper for crypto mining in UAE

UAE based ADGM Registration Authority (“RA”) has published a Discussion Paper No. 1 of 2026, inviting stakeholder feedback on proposed guidance for crypto mining activities conducted within or from ADGM.

As per the announcement, the proposal wants to offer regularity clarity alongside responsible innovation and governance standards across the crypto mining ecosystem.

In the discussion paper ADGM defines Crypto Mining as the verification of transactions on a decentralized ledger or infrastructure network, in return for rewards in the form of digital assets generated by a consensus mechanism.

The key features in the proposal include a technology neutral approach, which means accepting all forms of blockchain including proof of work, proof of stake and future technologies.

ADGM will be offering a commercial license framework and not a regulated financial service, but will be considered under the registration authority as a financial service and must comply to relevant UAE Federal Laws. The framework will also include clear governance expectations, with beneficial ownership disclosure, operational integrity, as well as risk based supervision with oversight calibrated on the scale and complexity of the mining operations.

It will also include global oversight where these crypto mining entities registered in ADGM can also oversee and manage overseas crypto mining operations.

ADGM is looking for responses from entities engaged in crypto mining activities, or planning to as well as technology vendors, auditors, and other relevant industry stakeholders. Feedback is needed by March 20th 2026.

The financial center wants to set a framework for crypto mining because it can pose risks in areas such as operational resilience, cybersecurity, transparency of ownership and control, health and safety at facilities and cross border oversight.

Dmitry Fedotov, Head of Emerging Technology at ADGM on LinkedIn noted, ” This is an important step toward regulatory certainty for entities engaged in crypto mining, whether operating locally, establishing regional headquarters, or managing global mining portfolios from ADGM.”

He adds that the areas where feedback are specifically sought include areas such as clarity of licensing requirements, and assessment, proportionality of proposed license conditions, appropriateness of on-chain address disclosure expectations, adequacy of supervisory tools, including potential SupTech integrations and expectations for ADGM headquartered entities overseeing global mining operations. The last one addresses a genuine gap says Fedetov, as mining operations increasingly span multiple jurisdictions.

He explains “There’s value in establishing clear expectations for how headquarters entities should exercise oversight, conduct due diligence on host jurisdictions, and apply consistent governance standards across their global footprint.”

The UAE already has a handful of operating crypto mining firms

Already the UAE has a handful of crypto mining entities operating out of the country, the major two well known are Phoenix, the first crypto mining entity in UAE to have an IPO and list on Abu Dhabi Exchange, and Marathon Digital which in 2023 had entered into a shareholder’s agreement with FSI ( FS Innovation), the BTC mining subsidiary of UAE ADQ a sovereign fund, to form an Abu Dhabi, ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Markets) based company with a cost of $406 million for the project. The initial phase consisted of two digital asset mining sites comprising 250 MW (megawatts) in Abu Dhabi UAE.

Additionally in 2024, Hut 8 (NASDAQ:HUT) an energy infrastructure platform integrating power, digital infrastructure, and compute at scale to fuel next-generation, energy-intensive use cases such as Bitcoin mining and high-performance computing, registered to open an office in Dubai UAE.

In 2025, the UAE authorities, illegalized crypto mining in farm areas and land. Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) reaffirmed the prohibition of cryptocurrency mining on agricultural land noting that such practices are having a negative impact on agricultural sustainability and bio security. According to the announcement, such activities fall outside the scope of permitted economic uses defined by the authority and are not allowed on farmlands. The new reiteration comes as several farms in the UAE where misusing agricultural land for crypto mining.