KPMG U.S. has issued a clean audit opinion on Tether's 2025 financial statements, the company's first full independent audit. The review found reserves exceeding liabilities by roughly $6.814 billion and comes as the GENIUS Act raises U.S. disclosure requirements for large stablecoin issuers.
Tether said on August 13 that KPMG U.S. completed its first independent audit of the company's 2025 financial statements and issued an unqualified audit opinion. The result marks the largest transparency milestone to date for the issuer behind the USDT stablecoin, after years of pressure to prove the quality of its reserves.
KPMG's clean opinion
An unqualified opinion means the financial statements are presented fairly in all material respects under U.S. GAAP. Tether said the audit covered the balance sheet, reserve assets, liabilities tied to issued tokens, the income statement, changes in equity, and cash flows, rather than just aggregate figures.
Tether also said KPMG physically counted and inspected each gold bar held by the company, rather than relying solely on custodian reports. The audited statements recorded reserves exceeding liabilities by approximately $6.814 billion as of the end of 2025.
Why it matters for USDT
USDT is not an isolated product — it serves as a liquidity layer across exchanges, wallets, and remittance activity. According to DefiLlama data cited in the report, USDT circulation stood near $183 billion, nearly 59% of the total stablecoin market. That scale means any change in Tether's disclosure practices carries impact beyond the company itself.
Before this audit, Tether relied primarily on quarterly reserve attestations from BDO Italia. An attestation confirms a specific set of balances at one point in time, while a full financial statement audit covers transactions, controls, and asset ownership across the entire year. Tether said the 2025 audit complements, rather than replaces, its quarterly reserve reports.
Regulatory pressure builds
The audit lands as the GENIUS Act, signed into law on July 18, 2025, tightens the U.S. framework for stablecoins. The law requires issuers to maintain a 1:1 reserve in USD or equivalent liquid assets and meet audit requirements for large-scale issuers. Issuers with over $50 billion in circulating stablecoins must prepare annual GAAP financial statements audited by a registered public accounting firm, and with USDT near $184 billion, Tether far exceeds that threshold.
It remains unclear how much detail Tether will disclose in the full report or whether KPMG will publish a separate public document. In its Q2 2026 report, Tether stated it generated $1.5 billion in net operating profit while its reserve buffer stood at $4.11 billion. Tether's next test is whether it keeps up annual audits beyond 2025.
Source: Tether
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
