USDT stablecoin issuer Tether has today announced the successful completion of its first-ever full independent financial statement audit.
KMPG U.S., one of the “Big Four” accounting organizations in the world, conducted the audit for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025. Its result was an “unqualified opinion,” which essentially means a “clean” audit in accounting. Here are the details:
Tether receives “clean” audit from lead accounting firm
According to KMPG, Tether’s reserve assets exceeded its liabilities by $6.814 billion at the end of 2025. The audit also verified $141 billion in US Treasury reserves, placing Tether as one of the largest global holders of American government debt.
Even more, the firm physically inspected and counted every gold bar held by Tether to confirm their existence and authenticity.
Cynicism over Tether backing
Tether has faced years-long intense criticism and skepticism from regulators, journalists, and traditional finance regarding whether it actually held the assets backing USDT. The situation worsened as the collapse of TerraUSD (UST), Balance Coin, and TrueUSD steered hawk eyes to Tether’s USDT.
In 2022, USDT briefly depegged from the dollar following the Terra saga, with investors panicking over its commercial paper debt backing. Tether later restructured its treasury to be fully backed by US Treasury bills. The company also gave regular quarterly attestations to its financial systems.
Why the audit matters
The audit from a respectable third party was extensive and unprecedented, and is intended to silence critics regarding Tether’s financial transparency.
It also aligns with the GENIUS Act, which mandates that stablecoin issuers with over $50 billion in circulation conduct annual financial audits to legally operate in the US.
Furthermore, the milestone reduces counterparty risk, paving the way for meaningful institutional partnerships.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino celebrated the win, calling it “the best possible audit opinion an independent auditor can issue.”
While positive, Tether remains locked out of European markets after declining regulator’s requirement to hold 60% of its reserves in commercial EU banks. That said, the stablecoin remains the global leader with a market cap of $182.97 billion, with USDC trailing at $72.01 billion.
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