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USAT

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KPMG has delivered an unqualified opinion on Tether International's balance sheet, income statement and cash flows for the 2025 financial year, marking the first completed full audit in the stablecoin issuer's history since its founding in 2014.The sign-off is a significant milestone for <a href="https://x.com/tether" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@tether</a>, the operator of <a href="https://x.com/search?q=%24USDT&amp;src=cashtag_click" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$USDT</a>, the world's largest stablecoin. <cite>The company had previously relied on periodic attestations from BDO Italia, which fall short of the full financial statement audit now completed with KPMG.</cite> Those point-in-time reports covered reserve positions but did not examine the broader financial reporting framework, internal controls or full balance sheet.<h2 id="what-the-audit-covered">What the Audit Covered</h2>The KPMG review went well beyond prior attestations. <cite>It reviewed Tether's assets, liabilities and internal controls across the company's balance sheet, rather than only checking reserve positions at specific points in time.</cite> Auditors also physically inspected each gold bar held as part of the reserve, rather than relying solely on custodian reports, a step that underscores the depth of the review.<a href="https://x.com/tether" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@tether</a> reported that reserves exceeded liabilities by $6.81 billion at year end. <cite>At year-end 2025, Tether International reported $192.9 billion in total assets against $186.5 billion in total liabilities.</cite><cite>The company has since shifted its reserve composition toward short-term U.S. Treasuries and has published quarterly transparency reports.</cite><h2 id="a-long-road-to-transparency">A Long Road to Transparency</h2>The audit closes a gap that had drawn scrutiny from regulators and institutional investors for years. <cite>In October 2021, the <a href="https://x.com/CFTC" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@CFTC</a> ordered Tether to pay a $41 million monetary penalty and issued a cease and desist in connection with Tether's misleading claims that it was fully backed by U.S. dollars.</cite><cite>The CFTC found that from at least June 2016 to February 2019, Tether misrepresented to customers and the market that it maintained sufficient U.S. dollar reserves to back every $USDT in circulation. In fact, reserves were not fully backed the majority of the time.</cite><cite>The KPMG engagement follows Tether's broader push into the U.S. market. In January 2026, Tether launched USAT, a stablecoin designed to comply with the GENIUS Act, the federal stablecoin regulatory framework signed into law in July 2025.</cite><cite>A clean KPMG audit would position Tether's $USDT and its new USAT token as compliant with the most rigorous institutional standards, accelerating integration with U.S. financial infrastructure.</cite><cite>Tether has described the review as "the biggest ever inaugural audit in the history of financial markets."</cite>Sources: <a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/395423/tether-taps-kpmg-for-first-financial-audit" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">The Block: Tether taps KPMG for first financial audit</a> <a href="https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8450-21" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CFTC: Orders Tether and Bitfinex to Pay Fines Totaling $42.5 Million</a> <a href="https://www.ledgerinsights.com/tether-hires-kpmg-for-landmark-audit-as-it-eyes-us-expansion-report/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ledger Insights: Tether hires KPMG for landmark audit</a>

KPMG signs off on Tether's first full financial statement audit

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