Paraguay to End Crypto Mining Power Contracts by End of 2027

Paraguay will terminate its special power contracts for crypto miners by December 31, 2027, and the government is already redirecting that electricity toward AI and high-performance computing. State utility ANDE is now offering data center operators 15-year agreements priced around $49/MWh, while miners hold contracts set to lapse with no renewal path under current rules. The shift leaves 943.8 MW of contracted mining load facing a hard cutoff.

The clearest beneficiary is Kuntur, a company linked to Araico and to the planned $12 billion Iguazú AI City project. Kuntur has secured a 15-year contract for up to 286 MW to power an AI data campus. The supply arrives gradually. It starts at just 6 MW in December 2026 and ramps toward the full 286 MW ceiling.

Who loses the most?

HIVE Digital Technologies carries the largest exposure of any public miner. The company's Paraguayan sites house roughly 77 percent of its operating mining capacity, per CoinDesk, with research findings placing the share between about 77 and 80 percent. HIVE runs two facilities in the country: the Yguazú site at about 200 MW and the Valenzuela site at about 100 MW. Those locations drove much of the company's recent hashrate growth. That growth now rests on contracts with a fixed end date.

HIVE is not alone. The number of legal mining operators in Paraguay has already fallen from 71 to 41, after strict enforcement against illegal grid connections. Costs have climbed too. Tariffs for crypto mining have risen to around $30/MWh, roughly double earlier levels, and operators now face upfront deposit requirements on top of that.

Why is Paraguay pivoting?

The government wants more in return for its electricity. Officials favor projects that create more jobs and commit to longer horizons, according to the available findings. An AI data campus tied to a $12 billion development offers exactly that: a bigger economic footprint and a longer relationship than rolling mining contracts.

Money is not vanishing from ANDE's side of the ledger. The utility is still expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually from intensive users despite the policy shift. What changes is the counterparty, not the revenue principle.

What does this mean for miners and investors?

For HIVE shareholders, the practical question is stark: what happens to roughly three-quarters of the company's operating capacity after December 31, 2027? The pricing gap tells part of the story. Miners pay around $30/MWh on contracts set to lapse. AI operators get offered around $49/MWh on 15-year deals. ANDE is trading volume for duration and a higher rate per megawatt-hour.

There is also a timing wrinkle worth watching. Kuntur's AI campus begins at 6 MW in December 2026 and ramps toward 286 MW. The miners' 943.8 MW of contracted load hits the 2027 cutoff long before that AI demand fully materializes. That gap raises an open question about how much surplus power sits idle, or gets reallocated, during the transition.

The signals to track from here are concrete:

• Any HIVE disclosure on contingency plans for its Yguazú and Valenzuela sites
• Any regulatory change in Paraguay that reopens extension talks for mining contracts
• Further long-term AI contracts signed by ANDE beyond the Kuntur deal

The enforcement window is the deadline itself. Unless Paraguay's regulators reopen contract extensions before the end of 2027, miners holding 943.8 MW of load will need new jurisdictions, new terms, or an exit.