According to external sources, Tether, the issuer of the largest global stabilizer USDT, has completed the first independent and comprehensive financial statement audit. The United States of America, which is the auditee of KPMG, issued an unqualified opinion on the financial statements for the year 2025, showing that its reserves were higher than its liabilities of $68.14 billion as at 31 December 2025.
This means that, in the opinion of the auditors, the financial statements of the issuing entity present fairly, in material respects, the financial position and are consistent with the United States common accounting standards. Comprehensive audit coverage is broader than that of the stock certificates issued by Tether on a quarterly basis in the past, covering balance sheets, profit statements, cash flows, changes in shareholder equity and transactions, valuations, counterparties, internal systems and supporting documentation.
Audit findings indicate that reserves are higher than liabilities
In a press release, Tether stated that this was the first time that the company had completed an independent and comprehensive financial statement audit. The new Chief Financial Officer, Simon McWilliams, stated that the audit had shown that the company maintained a significant excess reserve at the end of the year.
Tether further states that KPMG carried out a case-by-case verification of its gold reserves, including field count of gold bars and reconciliation of identifying information, rather than relying solely on records provided by the custodian or counterparty.
- Audit Institution: KPMG USA
- Auditee: Tether International
- Excess reserves: $6,814 million
The audit coverage did not cover the entire group
However, according to external sources, the audit did not amount to a full verification of the Tether group as a whole. The audit covered the USDT issuer Tether International rather than the more senior Tether Holdings and its complete business structure.
This difference is important because Tether operates through more complex corporate structures and holds many investments and associated entities. Critics argue that auditing the issuer entity alone does not automatically dispel market doubts about the extent of transactions and information disclosures between parent and affiliated companies.
It is also mentioned that the unqualified opinion does not represent endorsement of the auditing body as Tether ' s business model, nor does it mean that the company will be able to meet its full payment obligations in any event in the future. It indicates only that the auditor considers that the relevant financial statements are fairly presented within the applicable accounting framework.
Multi-year audit commitments finally landed
Tether committed to complete a full financial audit as early as 2017, when Friedman LLP was hired, but ultimately the results were incomplete. Since then, the company has continued to issue stock assurance reports and has repeatedly indicated that it will pursue a full-scale audit.
Tether has also received regulatory attention in the past for the issue of reserves. In 2021, the company paid $18.5 million in settlement payments in New York Attorney General's case; in the same year, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission also fined the company $41 million on the presentation of the USDT reserve.
According to external sources, this audit filled a long-standing transparency gap in Tether, but also pushed external attention to the next step: How much audited information the company will disclose in the future and whether it will further respond to questions about disclosure around equity structures, linkages and group levels.