Tether Completes First Full Financial Audit Conducted by Big Four Firm KPMG

In March, Tether announced it had engaged a leading international accounting firm to perform its inaugural comprehensive audit of financial operations supporting its $180 billion USDT stablecoin. Among the globally recognized “Big Four” accounting firms—Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC—KPMG was selected for this landmark review, marking a significant milestone in Tether’s transparency efforts.

During the audit, KPMG meticulously evaluated various aspects of Tether’s operations including transaction records, internal systems, asset valuations, counterparty relationships, and ownership documentation. Additionally, auditors conducted physical verification and inspection of Tether’s gold reserves, ensuring thorough due diligence across all asset categories.

After years of providing reserve attestations in lieu of a full audit, Tether faced ongoing criticism from industry observers questioning why such a dominant player in the cryptocurrency space hadn’t submitted to standard financial scrutiny typical of major institutions. This long-awaited audit addresses those concerns by delivering an unprecedented level of financial transparency.

Market confidence in the stability and asset backing of USDT—the cornerstone stablecoin facilitating crypto trading worldwide—has periodically been questioned, raising systemic risk concerns within the broader digital asset ecosystem. These recurring debates became so prevalent in cryptocurrency communities that they developed their own colloquial term: “Tether FUD.”

As USDT’s market capitalization expanded beyond $180 billion and Tether emerged as a significant purchaser of U.S. government securities for its reserves, the implications of these trust issues grew more substantial. The completed audit now serves as a definitive response to years of skepticism surrounding the company’s financial standing.

“For years, some detractors claimed an audit of Tether could not be completed,” said CEO Paolo Ardoino in an official statement, highlighting the audit’s completion as vindication of the company’s commitment to accountability and transparency.

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