Tether’s $120M Bitcoin Mining Push Hits a Power Roadblock
- Tether’s two Uruguay mining sites cost an estimated $120 million.
- A dispute with state utility UTE centered on how much electricity the sites could draw.
- UTE disconnected both facilities in July 2025 after bills went unpaid.
- Tether has continued pursuing Bitcoin mining elsewhere in South America.
Tether’s attempt to establish Uruguay as a launchpad for a larger South American Bitcoin mining business ended with two abandoned facilities after a contractual dispute with state-owned electricity provider UTE. The sites, estimated by a person with direct knowledge to have cost about $120 million, lost power in July 2025, according to documents and interviews reviewed by Reuters, turning what began as a renewable-energy mining expansion into a costly example of how electricity contracts can determine the economics of industrial-scale Bitcoin production.
A Power Contract Became the Project’s Central Problem
When Tether announced its Uruguay expansion in 2023, the country appeared well suited to the company’s mining ambitions. Uruguay offered political stability, a reliable electrical grid and a power system with substantial renewable generation.
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