Algeria prohibits all crypto activities, including property and mining

The Algerian government has introduced a new law that explicitly prohibits all crypto-related activities, including trade, ownership and mining.

The legislation was adopted on 24 July and expands the financial law of 2018 and expands, which forbids the importance and exchange of cryptocurrencies, but did not cover mine activities.

The new provision acts as a crypto-oriented amendment to the 2005 law in preventing money laundering and financing terrorism, whereby the Algerian government framed the ban as a necessary measure to combat illegal financial currents.

The scope of the law includes all possible activities involving cryptocurrencies, extends to issue and promotion, as well as offering crypto-trading services.

Violations can be confronted with prison sentences between two and 12 months, and/or a fine between 200,000 and 1 million dinars (around $ 1500 to $ 7,700).

However, more serious offenses with regard to financial and organized crime can be met with steeper fines and penalties, which would be decided on a case -by -case basis.

Algeria Bokt the Crypto trend

By expanding his ban on crypto, Algeria becomes the global trend of increasing liberalization, with even China announcing a shift in his previously hard policy in July.

And for most commentators and experts, blanket bans about cryptocurrency activity are rarely effective.

In fact, this is clear in the case of Algeria itself, because despite the prohibition of crypto trade and ownership in January 2018, the cryptocurrency market has grown considerably since then.

“Algeria is the 6th largest country in the Middle East and North Africa region received by cryptocurrency value, according to our Geography of the Cryptocurrency report from 2024,” said Matthias Bauer-Langgartner, head of Europe in Chainalysis, said Decrypt.

According to Bauer-Langgartner, there is now a broad consensus among international financial organizations that a broad ban “is very challenging to implement effectively”, as the FATF reported in an update in June.

Instead of eliminating activity, he explained, “Broad limitations tend to stimulate the crypto ecosystem underground, so that gray markets are fueled where users do not guarantee and miss protection.”

Ultimately, this makes it more difficult for law enforcement authorities to follow illegal activities and in Ringfence, a conclusion that was also drawn by Ari Redbord, the VP Global Head of Policy and Government Affairs at TRM Labs.

“It is incredibly difficult for a single jurisdiction to completely enforce a ban when transactions can move directly across borders and platforms,” he said Decrypt. “We have seen this in countries such as China, India and Nigeria, which have implemented prohibited or severe limitations on various points, only to see that crypto activities continue – often through underground markets or foreign platforms.”

For Redbord, it would be more productive to introduce regulations that grants trading platforms legitimacy in exchange for compliance with transparency standards.

He adds: “Instead of outright prohibitions, the more effective approach for regulation that brings activity into the light, so that law enforcement and regulators can protect consumers and still support innovation.”