Tether's Uruguay Mining Fiasco Clouds Brazilian Bitcoin Pilot

Tether's ambitious Bitcoin mining venture in Uruguay has failed, casting doubt on its smaller pilot project in Brazil. The Uruguayan project, which was launched in 2023 with a focus on renewable energy, spent an estimated $120 million across two sites before unraveling due to disagreements between Tether's local entity, Microfin, and state utility UTE over electricity use terms.

The dispute began by late 2024, and Microfin stopped paying power bills in May 2025. The sites were disconnected on July 25, after which most staff were laid off in November. Tether later settled the outstanding UTE debt in December.

Despite the failure of its Uruguayan project, Tether has announced a new partnership with Adecoagro to launch a 10-megawatt Bitcoin mining pilot in Brazil using surplus renewable energy. However, this is significantly smaller than the initial plans for Uruguay, which were touted as a major advantage due to the country's renewable generation and grid reliability.