The UAE primarily based ADGM Registration Authority (“RA”) has revealed Dialogue Paper No. 1 of 2026, inviting stakeholder suggestions on proposed steering for crypto mining actions carried out inside or from ADGM.
As per the announcement, the proposal goals to offer readability on laws alongside accountable innovation and governance requirements for crypto mining.
Within the dialogue paper, ADGM defines crypto mining because the verification of transactions on a decentralized ledger or infrastructure community, in return for rewards within the type of digital property generated by a consensus mechanism. The monetary freezone has take a expertise impartial method to the framework, and settle for every kind of blockchains together with proof of labor, proof of stake and others.
License for crypto mining entities shall be provided underneath a business one by the registration authority, as a monetary service and never underneath the FSRA regulatory authority. Nevertheless all crypto entities may also have to stick to the UAE Federal legal guidelines already in place.
The framework may also embrace clear governance expectations, with useful possession disclosure, operational integrity, in addition to threat primarily based supervision with oversight calibrated on the size and complexity of the mining operations.
A brand new idea introduce by ADGM shall be world oversight, the place crypto mining entities registered in ADGM may also oversee and handle abroad crypto mining operations.
ADGM is searching for responses from entities engaged in crypto mining actions, or planning to, in addition to expertise distributors, auditors, and different related trade stakeholders. Suggestions is required by March twentieth, 2026.
ADGM desires to set a framework for crypto mining as a result of it might pose dangers in areas akin to operational resilience, cybersecurity, transparency of possession and management, well being and security at amenities, and cross border oversight.
Dmitry Fedotov, Head of Rising Know-how at ADGM, on LinkedIn, wrote, “This is a vital step in direction of regulatory certainty for entities engaged in crypto mining, whether or not working domestically, establishing regional headquarters, or managing world mining portfolios from ADGM.”
He added that the areas the place suggestions is particularly sought are within the readability of licensing necessities, evaluation, proportionality of proposed license circumstances, appropriateness of onchain tackle disclosure expectations, adequacy of supervisory instruments, together with potential SupTech integrations, and expectations for ADGM headquartered entities overseeing world mining operations.
The final one addresses a real hole, says Fedetov, as mining operations more and more span a number of jurisdictions. He explains, “There’s worth in establishing clear expectations for the way headquarters entities ought to train oversight, conduct due diligence on host jurisdictions, and apply constant governance requirements throughout their world footprint.”
The UAE has a handful of working crypto mining corporations
Already, the UAE has a handful of crypto mining entities working in another country.
The main two well-known are Phoenix, the primary crypto mining entity in UAE to have an IPO and listing on Abu Dhabi Alternate, and Marathon Digital which in 2023 entered right into a shareholder’s settlement with FSI (FS Innovation), the BTC mining subsidiary of UAE ADQ a sovereign fund, to type an Abu Dhabi.
Moreover, in 2024, Hut 8 an vitality infrastructure platform integrating energy, digital infrastructure, and compute at scale to gasoline subsequent technology, vitality intensive use instances akin to Bitcoin mining and excessive efficiency computing, registered to open an workplace in Dubai, UAE.
