Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino pushed back on ongoing criticism of the stablecoin issuer in an interview with The Block, even after KPMG U.S. completed what was described as the company’s first full financial audit.
Ardoino said some critics still cannot admit that their earlier judgments about Tether were wrong. He put it plainly: 「Honestly, I don’t care.」
Tether points to past redemption pressure
Ardoino said Tether has already shown its resilience more than once. As an example, he pointed to 2022, when the company said it processed $7 billion in redemptions within 48 hours. According to his account, that amount was equal to about 10% of Tether’s reserves at the time, and the company did not pause redemptions during that stretch.
He argued that many traditional financial institutions would have difficulty handling withdrawals of a similar scale in such a short window.
Criticism remains, but Tether says it can be useful
Ardoino also said criticism is not inherently a bad thing. In his view, it can make Tether better and stronger. He added that even if some critics see the company as a 「villain」, that does not concern him as long as Tether can keep serving what it says are 650 million users who rely on USDT, especially users in emerging markets.
Audit progress has not ended the debate
The report says Tether, as a private company, will not publicly share its audited financial statements. The company plans to carry out one full audit each year going forward, while continuing to publish quarterly attestation reports.
Viewed broadly, the KPMG audit marks an important step in Tether’s effort to improve transparency. Even so, the discussion around its reserves, the extent of its disclosures, and its systemic impact has not fully gone away.