Crypto Mining Regulations: What’s Legal, What’s Banned, and Where It’s Headed

When it comes to crypto mining regulations, government rules that determine who can mine cryptocurrency and under what conditions. These rules aren’t just paperwork—they decide whether miners survive or get shut down overnight. Some countries treat mining like a public utility, others like a criminal act. And the difference isn’t just about law—it’s about power, survival, and control.

Take Venezuela crypto mining, a state-run system where the government controls electricity and licenses miners through SUNACRIP. State-controlled crypto sounds like a dream with cheap power—but in practice, it’s chaos. Regulators are paralyzed, the grid fails, and miners are stuck between needing crypto to survive and being trapped by broken bureaucracy. Meanwhile, Cambodia crypto ban, a strict policy that blocks almost all crypto transactions through banks. Only two government-approved platforms are allowed, and even then, the central bank pushes its own digital currency, Bakong, to replace crypto entirely. This isn’t about stopping innovation—it’s about keeping control over money flows.

And then there’s the dark side: North Korea crypto hacking, state-backed thefts that fund nuclear programs through crypto heists. State-sponsored crypto theft isn’t mining—it’s robbery on a massive scale. In 2025 alone, over $2 billion was stolen, mostly through exchanges like ByBit, using remote workers and laundering networks in Cambodia and Laos. The irony? While Cambodia bans mining, it’s become a hub for the very criminals who exploit the lack of regulation.

These aren’t isolated cases. They’re part of a global pattern: governments either try to own mining, ban it to protect their financial systems, or ignore it until hackers turn it into a weapon. You can’t talk about crypto mining regulations without looking at who controls the power, who gets taxed, and who gets targeted.

What you’ll find below isn’t a list of laws—it’s a map of real places where crypto mining lives, dies, or gets stolen. From Venezuela’s broken system to Cambodia’s tight grip, from institutional custody solutions protecting billions to scams hiding behind fake airdrops, these stories show how regulation isn’t just policy—it’s survival.