Crypto Regulations: What’s Banned, Allowed, and Changing in 2025

When you hear crypto regulations, rules set by governments to control how cryptocurrencies are used, traded, and taxed. Also known as digital asset laws, they’re no longer just background noise—they’re the reason some exchanges vanish overnight and others get official licenses. This isn’t about theory. It’s about what’s real: Nigeria lifting its banking ban, Norway blocking new mining farms, and Cyprus forcing crypto firms to get government approval just to operate.

These rules aren’t random. They’re tied to bigger things like MiCA regulations, the European Union’s first unified crypto rulebook that forces exchanges to prove they’re secure, transparent, and licensed. Also known as Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, it’s already pushing out unlicensed platforms in places like Malta, a former crypto haven that now requires costly licenses just to run a crypto business. In contrast, Norway, a country powered by clean hydroelectricity, is pausing new crypto mining to save energy for industries that pay local wages. And in Nigeria, a nation where crypto use exploded despite a 2021 banking ban, regulators finally built a legal framework to bring exchanges into the open.

What does this mean for you? If you’re trading on an exchange that doesn’t follow local rules, you’re at risk. If you’re mining crypto in a country that’s running out of power, your operation might get shut down. If you’re chasing airdrops from tokens tied to unlicensed platforms, you’re playing with fire. The posts below don’t just list these rules—they show you exactly where they hit hardest: the banned exchanges in Iran, the shaky airdrops that vanished after MiCA kicked in, the Nigerian platforms that got shut down for operating without licenses, and the crypto mining bans that changed how energy gets used.

These aren’t abstract policies. They’re the reason your favorite token got delisted, why a mining rig in Oslo got turned off, or why you can’t sign up for a new exchange in Lagos anymore. What follows is a real-world guide to what’s legal, what’s risky, and what’s disappearing—based on actual events, not guesses. You’ll see which countries are locking down crypto, which ones are trying to control it, and which ones are quietly letting it grow under new rules. No fluff. Just what’s happening now—and what you need to know before your next move.