ADGM Sets Licence and Disclosure Terms for Crypto Mining
Abu Dhabi Global Market's Registration Authority has published crypto mining guidance that treats mining as a licensed commercial activity rather than a financial service.
Abu Dhabi Global Market's Registration Authority has published guidance on crypto mining, setting out how miners get licensed and what they must disclose. The central point is classification: mining is a licensed business activity, not a financial service.
The guidance was issued under section 23 of the Commercial Licensing Regulations 2025. It covers firms that mine inside ADGM and firms that run mining operations from ADGM. Each mining firm needs a dedicated licence under business activity code 7230.
The text is technology-neutral. Proof-of-Work, Proof-of-Stake and mining methods that do not yet exist all fall within it.
Before applying, firms can complete a self-assessment showing whether their work counts as mining or falls under the Financial Services Regulatory Authority. Applicants must disclose their structure and ownership, and share the wallet addresses that receive mining rewards. The Registration Authority will keep those addresses private.
Supervision is risk-based and scaled to the size of each firm. Where an ADGM head office runs mining in other countries, the authority said it will apply reasonable oversight.
Rashed Al Blooshi, chief executive of the Registration Authority, said the guidance gives operators a clear commercial licensing pathway, proportionate supervision calibrated to scale and risk, and certainty about the regulatory perimeter.
This is the first phase of the authority's work on crypto mining. A second phase will produce a regulatory framework, with market consultation to follow. Earlier this year the Registration Authority ran an eight-week public consultation on its plans; feedback from that exercise shaped the final guidance.
For operators weighing jurisdictions, the distinction matters. A commercial licence keeps mining outside the financial services perimeter; firms are not supervised as though they were trading or managing client money. That is lighter than a financial licence, though disclosure and wallet reporting still apply.
