Tether abandons $120 million Uruguay Bitcoin mining project

Tether ended its Uruguay Bitcoin mining operation after a dispute over electricity capacity with UTE. A source familiar with the deal estimated that Tether spent around $120 million on the project. Tether never publicly disclosed the investment amount. The two sites were located in Uruguay's Florida department. Two former contractors said the sites initially operated well and generated income. The sites later lacked enough electricity for days at a time. Tether viewed the contracted power figure as a minimum. UTE viewed the figure as a hard cap. Both sides sought a revised agreement, but Tether representatives did not attend the signing. Microfin, Tether's Uruguayan legal entity, stopped paying its electricity bills two months after the government change. Microfin told UTE in June that it planned to terminate the contracts. UTE disconnected the sites on July 25, 2025. Tether notified Uruguay's labor authorities on November 25 that it would end operations and lay off most staff. A former contractor and another source said the dispute intensified after Yamandu Orsi took office in March 2025 and new UTE directors were appointed. Tether had described Uruguay as a first step before expanding into Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. Nicolas Ribeiro said Uruguay's power costs make it more attractive for AI data centers than for Bitcoin mining.