According to CoinMeta, two Bitcoin mining facilities established by Tether in Uruguay have ceased operations. The project encountered difficulties mainly due to disputes with the local state-owned power company UTE regarding the supply of electricity. A former Tether contractor estimated that the company invested approximately $120 million in these two facilities, but Tether has not responded to this claim. Documents show that there was a disagreement between the two parties over whether the electricity quota stipulated in the contract represented a minimum guarantee or a maximum limit, which resulted in the mining facilities being unable to obtain sufficient power for a period of time. The local entity Microfin stopped paying part of the electricity bills in 2025 and proposed to terminate the contract in June. Subsequently, on July 25, 2025, UTE cut off the power supply to the mining facilities. Tether had previously regarded Uruguay as its first step in expanding its Bitcoin mining operations in South America, but with diminishing mining profits and rising energy costs, mining companies are now turning more towards other businesses such as AI and high-performance computing.