Tether says it completed long-promised 'Big Four' audit of finances behind $180 billion USDT stablecoin
- Tether said it has completed its first full financial audit, a step it had promised for years amid scrutiny of the reserves backing its USDT stablecoin.
- KPMG U.S. issued an unqualified opinion on firm’s 2025 financial statements, which showed reserves exceeding liabilities by $6.814 billion, the stablecoin issuer said.
- The audit goes beyond Tether’s prior quarterly attestations, as KPMG tested transactions, systems and assets, including a physical inspection of the company’s gold bars, in response to longstanding concerns about USDT’s stability and systemic risk, the firm said.
Tether, the company behind the world's largest stablecoin USDT USDT$0.9989, said Thursday that it had completed a full financial audit for the first time, claiming it delivered on a transparency measure it had promised for years as questions lingered over the assets backing its token.
KPMG U.S., one of the “Big Four” accounting firms, audited Tether International's financial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 2025 and issued an unqualified opinion, Tether said. That means the accounting firm found the statements fairly presented Tether's financial position, results and cash flows in all material respects under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
The statements showed Tether's reserves exceeded liabilities by $6.814 billion at the end of 2025, Tether said. CoinDesk has asked Tether if it will share KPMG’s findings and received no response yet.
The audit is a step up from the quarterly attestations Tether has published for years after settling an investigation with the New York Attorney General’s office. An attestation checks specific information, such as the amount and composition of reserves at a given date. A financial audit takes a broader look at a company's books, testing transactions, assets, liabilities, income, cash flows and the evidence supporting them.