Tether (USDT) says it completed long-promised audit from KPMG, down to counting its gold bars

KPMG U.S. examined Tether's books and even counted its gold bars as the $180 billion USDT issuer said it completed its long-promised financial audit.

Tether (USDT) says it completed long-promised audit from KPMG, down to counting its gold bars

Finance

Tether says it completed long-promised 'Big Four' audit of finances behind $180 billion USDT stablecoin

KPMG U.S. examined Tether's books and even counted its gold bars as the $180 billion USDT issuer said it completed its long-promised financial audit.

By

Krisztian Sandor

|

Edited by

Nikhilesh De

36 min ago

2

min read

Make

preferred on

Share

Share this article

Copy link

X icon

X (Twitter)

LinkedIn

Facebook

Email

Make

preferred on

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)

Summary

Show

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.

Tether said in March that it had

hired

a “Big Four” accounting firm to conduct its first full audit. KPMG is one of the Big Four, the group of accounting giants that also includes Deloitte, EY and PwC and audits many of the world's largest companies.

KPMG examined Tether's transactions, systems, valuations, counterparties and ownership records, according to the company. Auditors also physically counted and inspected its gold bars.

Tether has repeatedly promised a full audit while relying on reserve attestations, leaving critics asking why a company of its size hadn't undergone the same level of scrutiny common among large financial firms.

Concerns about the stability and backing of its USDT token, a key piece of infrastructure for crypto trading and markets, have surfaced from time to time as a potential systemic risk for digital assets. The recurring debate became so familiar in crypto circles that it earned its own shorthand as “Tether FUD.”

The stakes have only grown as USDT swelled to over $180 billion in market capitalization, while Tether has become a major buyer of U.S. government debt for reserve assets.

“For years, some detractors said an audit of Tether could not be completed,” CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a statement.

Tether

Stablecoins

Related Assets

Tether

$

0.99

0.013

%

Latest Crypto News

1

Trezor warns 14,000 customers after fulfilment partner suffers data breach

1 hr ago

2

Crypto for Advisors: The crypto advice gap

4 hrs ago

3

B2C2 taps Schroders veteran to chase Asia’s growing crypto wealth

4 hrs ago

4

Kalshi in talks with Sequoia, Wellington for $750 million fund raise at $40 billion valuation

4 hrs ago

5

Swissquote cuts full-year guidance as 1H crypto income plunges, shares slide

5 hrs ago

6

Crypto platform operator gets 15-year prison sentence in South Korea due to $50 million scam

5 hrs ago

7

Figure revenue doubles as blockchain loan marketplace volumes surge

5 hrs ago

8

Bullish shares surge 14% as subscription revenue offsets digital asset slowdown

6 hrs ago

9

Strategy, Metaplanet unrealized bitcoin losses highlight risk of concentrating on just one token

7 hrs ago

10

Bitcoin holds steady near $64,000 as monero, hyperliquid outperform

8 hrs ago

Latest Research

Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness

Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness

Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.

By

CoinDesk Research

Jun 30, 2026

Commissioned by

GenZcash

Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.

Why it matters

:

Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.

View Full Report

More From

Finance

B2C2 taps Schroders veteran to chase Asia’s growing crypto wealth

Kalshi in talks with Sequoia, Wellington for $750 million fund raise at $40 billion valuation

Swissquote cuts full-year guidance as 1H crypto income plunges, shares slide

More From

Tether

Trezor warns 14,000 customers after fulfilment partner suffers data breach

Crypto for Advisors: The crypto advice gap

B2C2 taps Schroders veteran to chase Asia’s growing crypto wealth

Crypto

CD20

$1,737.06

CD20 up 0.021 percent

0.021%

BTC

$63,277.36

BTC down 0.13 percent

0.13%

ETH

$1,883.95

ETH up 0.32 percent

0.32%

XRP

$1.01

XRP up 0.18 percent

0.18%

SOL

$75.98

SOL up 0.38 percent

0.38%