The Democratic Republic of the Congo just pulled a resource nationalism move that could ripple through every industry dependent on batteries and electronics, crypto mining included. The government signed an order on June 29 reinstating a ban on exports of copper and cobalt concentrates, effective immediately.

The DRC isn’t some minor player here. The country produces more than 70% of the world’s mined cobalt and ranks as Africa’s largest copper producer.

What the DRC actually did

Mines Minister Louis Kabamba Watum was among the key officials who signed the government order. The stated goal is straightforward: keep more economic value inside the country by forcing processing to happen domestically rather than letting raw concentrates get refined elsewhere.

This isn’t the DRC’s first attempt at controlling its mineral pipeline. The country first introduced policies restricting concentrate exports back in 2013. More recently, the government suspended cobalt exports entirely from February to October 2025, a move that lasted four months before being replaced by an annual quota system.

That quota allowed for at least 96,600 tonnes of cobalt for the 2026-2027 period. Now, the government has gone further by banning concentrate exports outright.

Why crypto cares about cobalt and copper

Copper is essential for electrical wiring, circuit boards, and power distribution systems. Every ASIC miner, every GPU rig, every data center cooling system relies on copper components. Cobalt shows up in lithium-ion batteries, which power backup systems and increasingly serve as energy storage for mining operations running on renewable sources.

The supply chain math

The DRC’s move echoes what Indonesia did with nickel, another critical battery metal. Indonesia banned raw nickel ore exports in 2020 to force downstream investment, attracting billions in smelter construction. The DRC appears to be running the same playbook.

For the cobalt market specifically, the concentration risk is almost absurd. No other country comes close to the DRC’s production volume. Australia, the Philippines, and Cuba produce cobalt, but collectively they’re a rounding error compared to the DRC’s output.

What investors should watch

Publicly traded mining companies with DRC exposure face operational uncertainty. Those with existing processing facilities inside the country may actually benefit, since the ban is designed to reward domestic value-add operations. Companies that were simply exporting raw concentrates are the ones getting squeezed.

The broader pattern is worth noting. Resource-rich nations are increasingly asserting control over critical minerals rather than serving as passive exporters. The DRC’s escalating restrictions, from 2013 reforms to the 2025 suspension to quotas to an outright ban, represent a clear trajectory.