# Tether’s Uruguay Bitcoin Mining Sites Shut Down After Power Dispute

By John Kim

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/40570
Published: 2026-10-25T15:20:00.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-25T15:20:00.000Z
Section: Business

> The project’s investment was estimated at $120 million. Thirty of 38 local workers were laid off.

Tether’s Bitcoin (BTC) mining sites in Uruguay shut down in July 2025 after a dispute with state-run utility UTE over electricity supply escalated into nonpayment and a contract termination notice from site operator Microfin.

UTE cut power to both sites on July 25. Microfin had stopped paying its electricity bills in May and sent notice in June that it would terminate its contract. The unpaid balance was near $5 million when power was cut, while monthly charges were about $2 million. Microfin cleared the debt in December 2025.

The dispute centered on the amount of electricity guaranteed by the contract. Tether treated the contracted supply as a minimum that could be increased as the operation grew, while UTE treated it as a maximum limit. As power demand rose, the sites faced repeated restrictions; at times, they went several days without enough electricity, disrupting mining operations. The disagreement was already present by late 2024.

Tether partnered with Microfin in 2023 to develop two mining sites in Uruguay’s Florida department. The investment was estimated at about $60 million per site, or $120 million total. The sites employed 38 local workers. Tether notified labor authorities on Nov. 25, 2025, that operations had stopped; 30 workers were laid off.

Across the mining industry, Bitcoin’s 2024 halving cut the block reward from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC and compressed mining margins.