Tether has finally named the Big Four firm it chose to audit its $185 billion USDT stablecoin reserves: KPMG, the Financial Times reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The stablecoin issuer also hired PwC to get its internal systems ready ahead of the audit — the most concrete step yet toward full financial disclosure for the world's largest stablecoin issuer.
Beyond Monthly Attestations
CoinDesk reported earlier this week that Tether had entered a formal engagement with a Big Four auditor but did not identify the firm. CFO Simon McWilliams said at the time that Tether was “already operating at Big Four audit standard” and promised “the audit will be delivered.”
The full financial statement audit goes far beyond the monthly attestations currently published by BDO Italia. It will require a detailed review of assets, liabilities, internal controls and reporting systems — a level of scrutiny Tether has long resisted since its 2014 launch.
U.S. Expansion and Investor Skepticism
The audit push comes as Tether prepares to expand in the United States and raise new capital. According to a previous Financial Times report, the firm sought to raise $15 billion to $20 billion at a $500 billion valuation, but investors balked at the pricing and regulatory risks. Tether's choice of KPMG and PwC is seen as an effort to ease those concerns.
With roughly $185 billion in circulation, USDT functions as the de facto reserve currency of crypto markets and a major buyer of U.S. Treasuries. A credible audit could reshape how regulators and Wall Street perceive the stablecoin giant.
A Long Battle Over Transparency
Tether's history with transparency is fraught. In 2021, CoinDesk filed a FOIL request with the New York Attorney General's office seeking documents on USDT's reserve composition. Tether fought the release in court and lost twice. The documents, obtained in 2023 after a two-year legal battle, revealed that as of March 2021, the vast majority of Tether's $40.6 billion in reserves sat at Bahamas-based Deltec Bank, with heavy exposure to commercial paper issued by Chinese banks including Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China Hong Kong, and ICBC.
By bringing in KPMG and PwC, Tether is finally signaling a shift from opacity to openness — a move that could define its future in mainstream finance.