The agribusiness firm Adecoagro, owned by Tether, has begun piloting a Bitcoin mining operation powered by sugarcane biomass in Brazil. The initiative uses electricity generated from sugarcane processing to run mining rigs, marking one of the first such projects in Latin America. Project manager Matheus Lechuga told local media the initial phase is all about energy efficiency — proving that sugarcane-based power can keep miners hashing without draining the grid.
How sugarcane powers the miners
Sugarcane mills already burn bagasse (the fibrous leftovers after juice extraction) to generate electricity. Adecoagro is tapping into that existing generation to supply its mining containers. The setup avoids adding demand to the local power network and repurposes what would otherwise be waste. For Tether, which has been diversifying into energy and agriculture via Adecoagro, the play is straightforward: use the company's own biomass to produce a Bitcoin at a lower marginal cost than buying power on the open market.
Why Latin America matters
Brazil has a long history of sugarcane ethanol and cogeneration, but plugging Bitcoin mining into that infrastructure is new. Lechuga's team is essentially stress-testing whether a mill's surplus power can support a steady mining load without disrupting the plant's primary operations. If the pilot works, it could open the door for other mill owners across the region to follow suit — especially in countries like Colombia, Argentina and Paraguay where sugarcane is abundant and energy costs are rising. The timing isn't bad either: Bitcoin's price has stabilized well above the cost of production for most miners, so any efficiency edge matters.
Pilot scale and next steps
Adecoagro hasn't disclosed the exact hashrate or number of rigs in the trial. But the company said the focus is on replicability — making the model simple enough that other farms or mills could adopt it without hiring a team of engineers. Lechgua expects to publish operational data from the pilot later this quarter. If the numbers hold up, Tether may look at rolling out similar setups at Adecoagro's other facilities in the region.
