Tether completes first full audit by KPMG, receives unqualified opinion on 2025 statements

Tether has completed its first full financial audit, with KPMG U.S. issuing an unqualified opinion on Tether International's 2025 financial statements. The audit verified that Tether's reserves exceeded liabilities by $6.814 billion at the end of 2025. To verify assets, KPMG physically inspected and counted every gold bar held by Tether. While CEO Paolo Ardoino celebrated the milestone as a rebuttal to critics, skeptics like Swan CEO Cory Klippsten point out that the audit only covers a subsidiary and leaves ownership questions unresolved.

KPMG unqualified audit opinion

• ▪Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino characterized the review of the 2025 financial statements as the largest inaugural financial audit in history.
• ▪KPMG U.S. issued an unqualified audit opinion on the 2025 financial statements of Tether International, S.A. de C.V., marking the stablecoin issuer's first completed full financial audit.
• ▪A spokesperson for KPMG U.S. confirmed the issuance of the unqualified opinion on Tether International's 2025 financial statements but declined further comment due to client confidentiality.

Tether reserve surplus verification

• ▪Tether CFO Simon McWilliams, who joined the company in early 2025 to develop its internal finance structure, stated the audited $6.814 billion surplus was consistent with previously disclosed figures.
• ▪Tether International's audited 2025 financial statements showed that the company's reserve assets exceeded its related liabilities by $6.814 billion at the end of 2025.
• ▪Tether's audited 2025 reserve figures are separate from its subsequent 2026 reports, which showed excess reserves of $8.23 billion in Q1 and $4.11 billion in Q2.

Audit methodology physical inspection

• ▪PricewaterhouseCoopers assisted Tether in preparing its internal systems and financial reporting procedures prior to the KPMG U.S. audit engagement.
• ▪The full financial audit by KPMG U.S. tested transactions, systems, valuations, counterparties, and ownership records, whereas Tether's prior quarterly reports were narrower reserve attestations.
• ▪KPMG's audit methodology included physically counting and inspecting every individual gold bar held by Tether rather than relying solely on reports from custodians or counterparties.

Historical transparency criticism

• ▪S&P Global downgraded Tether's USDT stablecoin rating from constrained to weak in late 2025, citing lack of transparency and reserve exposure to Bitcoin and gold.
• ▪The Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined Tether $41 million in October 2021 over claims that its USDT stablecoin was fully backed by U.S. dollars.
• ▪Swan CEO Cory Klippsten criticized the audit, stating that Tether's ownership remains a mystery and noting that the audit only covered the Tether International subsidiary.
• ▪Tether settled with the state of New York in February 2021, paying an $18.5 million fine to resolve an investigation regarding a shortfall in its finances.

U.S. regulatory expansion efforts

• ▪The GENIUS Act, signed by President Donald Trump in July 2025, established federal rules for payment stablecoin issuers that may affect foreign issuers' access to U.S. exchanges.
• ▪Tether introduced USAT, a separate dollar-backed token built for the American market, which is issued by Anchorage Digital Bank and custodied by Cantor Fitzgerald.

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