Algeria

DeFi Intel Research Desk2026-07-14Africa

Is crypto legal in Algeria? (2026)

No — cryptocurrency is banned in Algeria. Current status: Banned — fully criminalized. Oversight sits with Criminal statute — no licensing authority. Full details — governing law, licensing, tax and dated enforcement history — follow below (last reviewed 2026-07-14).

Framework: Law No. 25-10 of 24 July 2025 fully criminalises crypto-assets in Algeria — covering issuance, purchase, sale, possession, use and promotion, as well as mining and the offering of crypto-trading services — hardening the ban first introduced by the 2018 Finance Law.

Algeria's 2018 Finance Law (Law No. 17-11) prohibited the purchase, sale, use and holding of so-called virtual currencies, but the provision was vague and inconsistently enforced, and a sizeable shadow market persisted — Chainalysis' 2024 Geography of Cryptocurrency report ranked Algeria sixth in the Middle East and North Africa by crypto value received. Law No. 25-10, enacted on 24 July 2025, closes that gap: it extends the prohibition to mining and to the use or advertisement of digital wallets (including non-custodial wallets), and amends the 2005 anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing law. Violations carry prison terms of two to twelve months and fines of 200,000 to 1,000,000 Algerian dinars (roughly USD 1,500 to USD 7,700), with substantially heavier penalties where offences are connected to organised crime, money laundering or terrorist financing. Officials framed the law as protecting the financial system from unregulated capital flows and aligning Algeria with FATF financial-integrity standards.

Tax treatment

Not applicable — crypto-asset activities are criminal offences under Law No. 25-10, so no tax regime for crypto gains exists. There is no lawful domestic on-ramp; residual holdings expose the holder to criminal liability rather than tax liability.

• Capital-gains rate (crypto): Not applicable — activity criminalized
• Holding-period rule: Not applicable

Travel rule applicability

Status: not applicable. Algeria licenses no virtual-asset service providers, so there is no VASP perimeter to which FATF travel-rule obligations could attach. Law No. 25-10 instead operates through the criminal law, amending the 2005 AML/CFT statute to cover crypto-asset dealings.

Notable enforcement actions

• 2018. The 2018 Finance Law introduced Algeria's first ban on buying, selling, using and holding virtual currencies; enforcement was inconsistent and peer-to-peer activity persisted.
• 2025. Law No. 25-10 (24 July 2025) criminalised the full spectrum of crypto activity — ownership, trading, mining, wallet use and promotion — with prison terms of 2–12 months and fines up to 1,000,000 dinars, escalating for organised-crime or ML/TF links. Named prosecutions under the new law had not been verified by DeFi Intel as of 14 July 2026.

Public licensed CASP list

None — Algeria licenses no crypto-asset service providers, and offering crypto-trading services is itself a criminal offence under Law No. 25-10. Foreign platforms have no lawful basis to serve Algerian residents.

Comparison to neighbours

Compare Algeria crypto regulation with three geographically adjacent jurisdictions:

Doing business in Algeria — practical notes

There is no lawful way to operate a crypto-asset business in or into Algeria: issuance, exchange, custody, mining, promotion and even wallet use are criminalised, and penalties escalate sharply where organised crime or money laundering is involved. Regional operators should treat Algeria as a prohibited market and monitor official channels for any future policy change.

Methodology and sources

This profile was researched and updated by DeFi Intel's research desk on 2026-07-14 from the primary and secondary sources listed below. Claims that could not be verified against a source are omitted or marked pending — we do not republish unverified third-party datasets. Submit corrections and primary-source links to [email protected].

Sources

• Decrypt — Algeria bans all crypto activities, including ownership and mining (Jul 2025)
• ZIGRAM — Algeria passes Law No. 25-10: complete criminalization of cryptocurrency activities
• CryptoNinjas — Algeria ban: jail time and fines for users and miners
• Launch Base Africa — Algeria's new crypto law (Jul 2025)