Angola Crypto Mining Ban as of April 2024: What Happened and Why It Matters

Before April 2024, Angola was one of the biggest Bitcoin mining hubs in the world. Not just in Africa - globally. By late 2023, it ranked as the eighth largest Bitcoin mining country on Earth. That changed overnight. On April 10, 2024, Angola made it illegal to mine any cryptocurrency within its borders. Not just discouraged. Not just taxed. Illegal. And the penalties aren’t light.

What the Law Actually Says

Angola’s Law No. 3/24 didn’t just say "no mining." It laid out exactly what’s banned and what happens if you break it. Three things are now crimes:

• Running any kind of cryptocurrency mining operation on Angolan soil
• Using any electrical license or connection to power mining equipment
• Connecting mining hardware to the national power grid

The law defines mining as the process of solving cryptographic puzzles to validate transactions and add new blocks to the blockchain. That’s the core of Bitcoin and similar coins. And now, doing that in Angola is a felony.

The punishments are harsh. If you’re caught mining, you could face one to twelve years in prison. If you’re just holding mining gear - even if you haven’t turned it on - you could get one to five years and lose everything you own. Equipment, computers, power supplies, cooling units - all seized. No warning. No second chance.

Foreigners aren’t exempt. If you’re not an Angolan citizen and you’re caught mining, you’ll be deported. On top of jail time. The law also bans anyone convicted from holding public office or running a business in Angola.

Why Angola Pulled the Plug

This wasn’t about controlling money. It wasn’t about ideology. It was about power.

Angola’s electricity grid was breaking. Millions of people in cities like Luanda, Benguela, and Huambo were getting blackouts - sometimes for days. Hospitals struggled. Schools shut down. Factories couldn’t operate. Meanwhile, crypto miners were using massive amounts of electricity - often stealing it from the grid.

By late 2023, Bitcoin mining was consuming so much power that the national utility, EDAG, couldn’t keep up. Reports showed mining operations using more electricity than entire towns. Some miners ran on illegally tapped lines. Others paid off local officials to ignore their setups. The government estimated that mining was draining up to 15% of the country’s total electricity output.

Angola isn’t rich in energy. It has oil, yes - but its power infrastructure is outdated. Transmission lines are old. Transformers fail. Rural areas get power only a few hours a day. When miners started showing up in droves, they didn’t just use energy - they broke the system.

Who Was Mining in Angola?

The answer: mostly Chinese nationals.

After China banned all cryptocurrency mining in 2021, thousands of mining rigs were shipped out. Angola became a top destination. Why? Cheap electricity, weak enforcement, and a government that didn’t yet see the threat. By 2023, Angola had more mining rigs than any other African country. Some estimates put the number at over 50,000 machines.

Chinese mining companies set up shop in warehouses, industrial zones, even abandoned factories. They brought in generators, cooled their rigs with industrial AC units, and ran them 24/7. Some even connected directly to high-voltage lines meant for factories - bypassing meters entirely.

The Chinese Embassy in Luanda warned its citizens months before the ban took effect. A translated notice said: "Possession of mining equipment is punishable by imprisonment and confiscation." Many ignored it. Others tried to hide their gear. Most didn’t make it.

The Crackdown: August 2024

On August 12, 2024, Interpol and Angolan police raided 25 illegal mining sites across the country. The operation targeted 60 Chinese nationals. Over $37 million in mining equipment was seized - ASIC miners, power supplies, cooling units, backup generators. All of it was confiscated.

It was the largest crypto mining bust in African history. And it wasn’t random. It was planned. Authorities had been tracking locations, power usage spikes, and financial transfers for months. The seized equipment wasn’t destroyed. The government announced it would be redistributed to hospitals, schools, and community centers in underserved areas.

This raid was part of a bigger African crackdown. Across the continent, 1,209 people were arrested in coordinated operations. Over $97 million in assets were recovered. Zambia, Nigeria, and Kenya also shut down fake crypto investment schemes that tricked tens of thousands of people out of hundreds of millions of dollars.

What About Other Crypto Activities?

The ban only covers mining. Buying, selling, or holding Bitcoin or Ethereum is still legal in Angola. You can use apps like Binance or Coinbase. You can send crypto to a friend. You can even run a crypto exchange - as long as you’re not using Angolan electricity to mine it.

But the government’s message is clear: if you’re not producing value, you’re a risk. Mining doesn’t create jobs. It doesn’t build infrastructure. It doesn’t pay taxes. It just uses power and leaves behind heat and noise.

Legal experts point out one flaw in the law: there’s a typo in the penalty section for companies. Article 14 references a non-existent Article 12. It’s a small mistake, but it could cause delays in court cases. No one’s been charged under that section yet, but lawyers say it’s a risk.

What’s the Bigger Picture?

Angola’s move is a warning to other developing nations. When you have unreliable power and growing energy demand, crypto mining isn’t a tech boom - it’s a crisis. Other countries are watching. Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana have all seen spikes in mining activity. Some are considering similar bans.

For Bitcoin’s global network, Angola’s exit matters. Before the ban, Angola contributed nearly 2% of the entire Bitcoin hash rate. That’s a lot. When those machines went offline, the network adjusted - but the loss of that capacity is still felt. Some miners moved to Kazakhstan or Iran. Others shut down completely.

The ban also shows that governments are no longer willing to tolerate crypto mining as a gray-area activity. If you’re draining public resources, you’re not a pioneer - you’re a thief.

What’s Next for Angola?

The government says it’s investing in renewable energy. Solar farms are being planned. Grid upgrades are underway. They’re also cracking down on illegal electricity connections - not just for miners, but for anyone.

There’s no sign the ban will be reversed. No protests. No lobbying from miners. The public largely supports it. People are tired of blackouts. They want lights on in their homes. They want their kids to study at night. They want hospitals to run.

Angola didn’t ban crypto because it’s afraid of technology. It banned mining because it chose its people over profit.