Brazil scraps import duties on BTC miners

TLDR

Brazil has approved a temporary zero import duty on certain high efficiency Bitcoin mining machines to encourage investment and use of surplus renewable energy.

1. Brazils foreign trade council set import duty at zero for top tier SHA256 miners meeting strict efficiency thresholds until early 2028.
2. The policy could lower hardware costs, attract industrial scale miners, and help monetize Brazils large volumes of curtailed wind and solar power.
3. The impact will depend on energy contracts, financing, and whether utilities like Engie actually deploy mining at stranded solar and wind sites.

Deep Dive

1. What Brazil Changed

According to a recent resolution from Brazils foreign trade council, import duties were cut to zero for SHA256 Bitcoin miners that exceed 200 terahashes per second and operate below 20 joules per terahash, effective from 20 Feb 2026 through 31 Jan 2028 for qualifying machines.

This is a targeted exemption, not a blanket removal of all taxes. Other import-related costs and domestic taxes can still push total tax load on hardware toward 40%100%, but the customs duty component is now nil for these top spec ASICs.

The rule explicitly favors the latest generation miners, excluding older, less efficient hardware from the benefit, which aligns incentives with energy efficiency.

2. Why It Matters For Mining Economics

Brazil already suffers significant renewable energy curtailment, with roughly 32 terawatt-hours of wind and solar generation reportedly wasted between late 2021 and late 2025, costing operators about 6 billion reais (around 1.2 billion dollars) in lost revenue. The duty cut is framed as a way to help turn that stranded power into cash via mining.

Analysis in one report estimates that a 200 TH/s, 20 J/TH miner could earn about 6.81 dollars per day at current assumptions, implying a break-even electricity price near 0.071 dollars per kWh. That is hard to achieve on retail tariffs, but potentially viable with wholesale or curtailed power.

3. What To Watch Next

French energy giant Engie is already evaluating whether to install Bitcoin miners at its 895 megawatt Assu Sol solar plant in northeast Brazil to absorb curtailed output and improve project economics, as reported in multiple utility-focused pieces.

Key variables to monitor are:

1. whether large generators actually sign mining offtake deals,
2. how local regulators treat large scale mining from an energy and environmental perspective, and
3. what happens when the duty exemption nears its 2028 expiry.

If these projects scale, Brazil could emerge as a notable renewable heavy mining hub; if financing or regulatory friction dominates, the policy may remain a limited experiment.

Conclusion

Brazils decision to scrap import duties on high efficiency Bitcoin miners is a targeted incentive rather than a broad crypto push, aimed mainly at monetizing stranded renewable energy. For crypto users, the key implication is potential medium term relocation of some hash rate to Brazil, contingent on power deals, capital costs, and regulatory follow through rather than the tariff cut alone.