KPMG Delivers Clean Audit for Tether in Historic First Review

Key Takeaways

• KPMG U.S. has finished conducting a comprehensive financial audit of Tether International covering the fiscal year that concluded on December 31, 2025
• Results show Tether’s reserve assets surpassed its obligations by $6.814 billion
• Auditors personally verified and physically counted Tether’s gold bar holdings during the examination
• This marks Tether’s inaugural comprehensive audit, moving beyond the quarterly attestation reports it previously issued
• USDT currently maintains a market capitalization of $183 billion, representing approximately 61% of the entire stablecoin sector

The organization responsible for the USDT stablecoin, Tether, has successfully concluded its inaugural comprehensive financial examination. The accounting firm KPMG U.S. conducted the assessment and delivered an unqualified, clean opinion regarding Tether’s financial documentation for 2025.

The examination encompassed Tether’s financial position statement, profit and loss account, and liquidity reports for the complete twelve-month period concluding December 31, 2025. KPMG determined that the documents accurately represented the organization’s fiscal standing in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

According to the audited financial statements, Tether’s reserve holdings exceeded its outstanding obligations by $6.814 billion as of the year’s conclusion.

Moving Beyond Limited Attestations

Throughout previous years, Tether released quarterly attestation reports instead of comprehensive audits. Attestations verify particular data points such as reserve quantities at specific moments. A comprehensive audit delves significantly deeper, scrutinizing financial transactions, operational systems, business relationships, asset valuations, and ownership documentation.

KPMG personnel also conducted physical verification and counting of Tether’s gold bar inventory. The auditing team did not merely depend on documentation from custodial institutions.

This represents a significant shift from what skeptics had previously highlighted. Tether operates as one of the cryptocurrency sector’s largest financial entities, yet it had not previously undergone the type of independent examination standard among organizations of comparable magnitude.

Chief Executive Officer Paolo Ardoino responded to critics explicitly. “For years, some detractors said an audit of Tether could not be completed,” he stated in an official announcement.

Expanding Market Presence

USDT debuted in 2014 and has evolved into the leading stablecoin. Its $183 billion market capitalization comprises approximately 61% of the overall $301 billion stablecoin marketplace. Circle’s USDC, its nearest rival, maintains roughly $72 billion in market value.

Tether disclosed over $10 billion in net earnings during 2025. During the second quarter of the current year, the company recorded $1.5 billion in net operating earnings, generated primarily from returns on U.S. Treasury investments and repurchase agreement activities.

The organization has been diversifying its operations beyond stablecoin issuance. It allocated $20 million investments in both Argentine digital bank Ualá and Brazilian cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin. Additionally, it spearheaded a $50 million investment round for artificial intelligence sleep technology firm Eight Sleep.

Tether’s tokenized precious metal offering, Tether Gold, has experienced expansion. Physical gold reserves supporting this product increased 9.5% during the second quarter. It currently stands as the largest commodity tokenization product, valued at approximately $2.7 billion.

Tether has emerged as a significant purchaser of U.S. government securities as a component of its reserve management approach. This holding has expanded in parallel with USDT’s increasing market capitalization.

Notwithstanding its substantial size and profitability, Ardoino has indicated the organization has no intentions for a public listing. In June 2025, he posted on X: “No need to go public.”

KPMG verified it provided an unqualified opinion regarding Tether’s 2025 financial statements but refused additional commentary, referencing client confidentiality obligations.