Tether’s $120 million Uruguay mining failure now shadows its next Bitcoin bet in Brazil

Tether’s abandoned Bitcoin mining venture in Uruguay, where a former contractor estimated spending reached about $120 million across two sites, is casting a shadow over the stablecoin issuer’s smaller renewable-energy pilot in Brazil.

The Uruguay project unraveled after Tether’s local entity, Microfin, and state utility UTE disagreed over the terms governing electricity use, Reuters reported. Microfin understood its contracted allocation as a minimum that could be expanded, while UTE treated it as a maximum.

The dispute was underway by late 2024. Microfin stopped paying power bills in May 2025, notified UTE the following month that it planned to terminate the contracts, and later failed to complete revised terms. UTE disconnected the sites on July 25.

By November, Tether, the USDT issuer, had notified labor authorities that it would cease operations and lay off most staff. Microfin settled the outstanding UTE debt in December.

A former contractor estimated Tether spent roughly $60 million at each of the two sites in Uruguay’s Florida department. The approximately $120 million figure is an estimate of spending, not a confirmed loss disclosed by Tether.

The collapse contrasts with Tether’s 2023 launch of the venture, when the company cited Uruguay’s renewable generation and grid reliability as advantages for Bitcoin mining.