Tether has confirmed the termination of its operations in Uruguay and will lay off 30 employees.

According to Odaily, Tether has confirmed that it has informed the Uruguayan Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS) that it will terminate its operations in Uruguay and lay off 30 of its 38 employees.

According to El Observador, the decision was confirmed following a meeting at the headquarters of the National Labor Bureau (Dinatra) on Tuesday. Tether had previously revealed the decision in September, at which time it attributed it to Uruguay's high energy costs and lack of a competitive tariff framework, which Tether argued was inconsistent with the scale of its investment in Uruguay.

Tether had planned to invest $500 million in Uruguay, including the construction of three data processing centers in Florida and Tacuarembó, with an estimated demand of 165 MW, as well as a 300 MW wind and solar power park. Of the total $500 million investment, Tether has already executed over $100 million, with another $50 million allocated to infrastructure, which will be owned by UTE and the National Interconnection System.

Tether stated that continuing its project is no longer economically viable under current conditions. Although Tether has repeatedly applied for more competitive tariff schemes since November 2023, Florida's application of the 31.5 kV contract model and pricing standard has increased operating costs. Tether has suggested changing the pricing standard to 150 kV and revising the energy purchase agreement, a solution that would bring economic benefits to UTE and avoid unnecessary engineering work.