Tether said Thursday that KPMG issued an unqualified audit opinion on the 2025 financial statements of Tether International, the company behind USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin.
In its announcement, Tether described the review as the “largest inaugural financial audit in history.” The company said KPMG examined its assets, liabilities, income, cash flows, internal systems, records, counterparties, and supporting documentation.
KPMG issues an unqualified opinion
An unqualified opinion means auditors found no major problems in how the financial statements were presented. It does not mean KPMG is endorsing Tether’s business, nor does it guarantee that the company can meet its obligations.
Tether’s reserves and public disclosures have faced sustained scrutiny for years.
Past enforcement and disclosure disputes
In February 2021, Tether settled with the state of New York over a lawsuit and paid an $18.5 million fine related to a hole in its finances. In October that year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined Tether $41 million over claims that USDT was fully backed by U.S. dollars.
Earlier this year, in March, Tether said it had hired a Big Four accounting firm but did not identify it at the time. Days later, KPMG was named as the firm auditing USDT, while PwC helped prepare Tether’s internal systems.
Audit process included checks on gold bars
Tether wrote: 「As part of the process, KPMG physically counted and inspected every individual gold bar held by Tether, verifying the existence and identifying information of each bar rather than relying solely on reports from custodians or counterparties.」
Tether presented the audit as evidence that its governance and financial controls have kept pace with the company’s growth.
CEO Paolo Ardoino wrote on X: 「Despite our company being subject to several years of detractors’ false claims, competitors' lies, political attacks and misinformed coverage by several mainstream newspapers trying desperately to discredit us for the benefit of their friends in the tall ivory towers, Tether delivered what it promised.」
He also wrote: 「Our company has evolved into one of the most financially significant and operationally sophisticated private companies in the world. This audit demonstrates that our financial infrastructure and governance have evolved alongside that responsibility.」