Stablecoin issuer Tether's shuttered Bitcoin mining venture in Uruguay is casting a shadow over its subsequent renewable-energy pilot in Brazil. The abandoned Uruguay operation, where a former contractor estimated spending reached about $120 million across two sites in the Florida department, ended following a dispute over electricity allocation terms.
The Uruguay project collapsed after Tether’s local entity, Microfin, and state utility UTE disagreed on how to interpret power usage contracts. While Microfin understood its contracted allocation as a minimum that could be expanded, UTE treated it as a maximum limit. The dispute escalated by late 2024, leading Microfin to stop paying power bills in May 2025 and notify UTE of its intent to terminate the contracts. UTE disconnected the sites on July 25, and Tether notified labor authorities in November that it would cease operations and lay off most staff. Microfin subsequently settled the outstanding debt with UTE in December.
This experience directly informs Tether's next South American endeavor in Brazil, which is being developed in partnership with sustainable agricultural and energy producer Adecoagro. Representatives from Adecoagro visited Tether's Uruguay facility in February 2025, and five months later, the companies announced a memorandum of understanding for a pilot in Brazil.
The Brazil project is materially smaller than the Uruguay venture. Adecoagro stated that the pilot will utilize about 10 megawatts of surplus renewable energy that would otherwise be sold into the spot market. While initial announcements referenced more than 230 MW, that figure represents Adecoagro’s broader renewable generation capacity across South America rather than power committed specifically to cryptocurrency mining.
While available disclosures do not indicate that Tether redesigned the Brazil project specifically because of its experience in Uruguay, the new venture serves as a test of the company's regional mining strategy. The outcome in Uruguay demonstrated that renewable-energy availability alone does not ensure a workable operation, highlighting the equal importance of clear power terms, dependable capacity, and sustainable economics.
