Stablecoin issuer Tether is halting its Bitcoin mining operations in Uruguay.

The firm, which issues USDT, the third biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, said it made the decision to leave the South American country due to high energy costs.

Local media reported that El Salvador-based Tether had confirmed to Uruguay’s Ministry of Labor and Social Security that it was laying off 30 of its 38 employees in the country. The firm also confirmed the exit to Cointelegraph.

Tether did not immediately respond to Decrypt‘s questions.

Back in September, local media reported that Tether—which in October reported $10 billion in profit for the first three quarters of 2025—was in a dispute with Uruguay’s government-owned power company UTE over a $5 million debt. 

Tether issues USDT—the most-traded digital coin in the crypto world, and the third-biggest digital asset with a $184.4 billion market cap. 

The token is dubbed a digital dollar: It is backed by reserves, according to Tether, that keep it at a 1:1 par with the US dollar. Cantor Fitzgerald, previously headed up by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s, currently custodies billions of dollars in assets that back Tether. 

Traders in the crypto world can use USDT to quickly enter and exit digital transactions like Bitcoin buys. 

But Tether also wants to be the world’s biggest Bitcoin miner, according to its CEO Paolo Ardoino. 

South American countries have been eyed up by Bitcoin miners due to their cheap energy. The crypto mining industry requires huge data centers full of expensive computers that use large amounts of electricity to process transactions on the blockchain and mint new tokens. 

Tether is making further inroads into Latin America after relocating to Bitcoin-friendly El Salvador in January. The company bought a majority stake in South American agricultural firm Adecoagro in March.