Tether said Thursday it has completed its first full financial audit, with KPMG U.S. issuing an unqualified opinion on the 2025 financial statements behind the $180 billion USDT stablecoin. The review found Tether's reserves exceeded liabilities by $6.814 billion and included a physical count of the company's gold bars.
KPMG issues an unqualified opinion
Tether said Thursday that it had completed a full financial audit for the first time, delivering on a transparency measure it had promised for years. 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, industry jargon for the best possible result. The statements showed reserves exceeded liabilities by $6.814 billion at the end of 2025.
A step up from quarterly attestations
The audit goes further than the quarterly attestations Tether has published for years, since an attestation checks reserves at a single point in time while a full audit tests transactions, assets, liabilities and cash flows against the evidence behind them. KPMG examined Tether's transactions, systems, valuations, counterparties and ownership records. Auditors also physically counted and inspected every individual gold bar the company holds. According to CEO Paolo Ardoino: "For years, some detractors said an audit of Tether could not be completed."
Attestations still run alongside the audit
BDO Italia has prepared Tether's quarterly reserve reports since 2022, after replacing MHA Cayman, and those figures sit outside KPMG's opinion. Tether's most recent quarterly attestation, covering the second quarter of 2026, reported $1.5 billion in net operating profit and roughly $184.6 billion of USDT issued. The same filing showed the company holding more than 146 tons of gold.
Stakes tied to $180 billion in outstanding USDT
The stablecoin has swelled to over $180 billion in market capitalization, while Tether has become a major buyer of U.S. government debt for its reserve assets. Concerns about USDT's backing have surfaced from time to time as a potential systemic risk for digital assets, a recurring debate crypto circles nicknamed "Tether FUD."
Sources: CoinDesk, Decrypt, CryptoPotato
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