Tether said on August 13 that KPMG U.S. has completed its first independent audit of the company’s 2025 financial statements and issued an unqualified audit opinion, marking the largest transparency milestone to date for the issuer behind the USDT stablecoin. The announcement comes after years of pressure on Tether to prove the quality of the reserves backing the largest stablecoin in the crypto market.
Tether Completes the Largest Inaugural Financial Audit in History
Read more: https://t.co/vWG0fFSUxH
— Tether (@tether) August 13, 2026
KPMG’s Clean Opinion
According to Tether’s release, KPMG U.S. issued an unqualified audit opinion on Tether International’s financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025. In auditing, an “unqualified opinion” is commonly understood as a clean opinion, indicating that the financial statements are presented fairly in all material respects in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
Tether stated that the audit did not merely review aggregate figures. Still, it covered the balance sheet, assets in reserves, liabilities related to issued tokens, the income statement, changes in equity, and cash flows. The company said KPMG also examined transactions, systems, ownership records, valuations, counterparties, and underlying evidence supporting the financial statements.
A notable detail is that Tether stated KPMG physically counted and inspected each gold bar held by the company, rather than relying solely on reports from custodians or counterparties. The audited financial statements recorded reserves exceeding liabilities by approximately $6.814 billion as of the end of 2025.
Why The Audit Matters
The clean audit opinion from KPMG is a major milestone for Tether because USDT is not merely an isolated crypto product. The stablecoin serves as a critical liquidity layer for the digital asset market, widely used across exchanges, wallets, remittance activities, and emerging markets where users need access to the U.S. dollar.
According to DefiLlama data, the total stablecoin market cap was recently around $300 billion, with USDT hovering around $183 billion and accounting for nearly 59% market share. This scale means that any change in how Tether discloses its financial data carries impact far beyond the company itself.
Total Stablecoins Market Cap. Source: DefiLlama
For years, one of the most scrutinized aspects of Tether was that while the company published periodic reserve reports, it lacked a full financial statement audit from a Big Four firm. That created a trust gap between USDT’s dominant market position and the transparency standards typically expected by institutional investors, banks, and regulators.
Therefore, the results of this audit are attracting attention not only because they address a long-standing question about Tether, but also because stablecoins are becoming payment and transaction infrastructure monitored more closely by regulators.
From Attestations To Full Audit
Before the KPMG audit, Tether primarily relied on quarterly reserve attestation reports, typically conducted by BDO Italia. The company had previously signaled plans for a Big Four full audit as it prepared for a more regulated stablecoin market. An attestation generally confirms a specific set of information or balances at a point in time, whereas a full financial statement audit has a broader scope, covering financial statements, transactions, controls, proof of asset ownership, liabilities, and cash flows across the entire accounting period.
For a stablecoin, the question is not only whether the issuer holds sufficient assets on the reporting date, but also how those assets are recognized, valued, controlled, and presented throughout the company’s entire financial system.
Tether stated that the 2025 audit complements its existing quarterly reserve reports. However, the two types of documents are not interchangeable: reserve reports show the status of backing assets at a specific point in time, while audited financial statements reflect a broader picture but with an annual lag.
Regulatory Pressure Builds
Tether announced the completion of the audit as stablecoins enter a tighter regulatory framework in the U.S. The GENIUS Act, signed into law on July 18, 2025, requires stablecoin issuers to maintain a 1:1 reserve in USD or equivalent liquid assets, publish monthly reserve reports, and meet audit requirements for large-scale issuers.
According to Loeb & Loeb, the GENIUS Act requires issuers with over $50 billion in circulating stablecoins to prepare annual financial statements under GAAP, audited by a registered public accounting firm, publish the audited report on their website, and submit it annually to the primary federal regulator. With USDT hovering around $184 billion, Tether far exceeds this threshold.
The new regulatory framework makes the quality of financial reporting a crucial part of how stablecoin issuers build trust with the market and institutional partners. Circle, Paxos, and several U.S.-regulated issuers have long emphasized compliance in their institutional strategy. KPMG’s audit helps Tether add an independent layer of verification at a time when the industry’s transparency standards are being raised.
What Comes Next
It remains unclear to what level of detail Tether will disclose the audited financial statements, or whether KPMG will issue a separate, easily accessible public document. The August 13 release outlines the key results, but institutional investors will likely want to see the complete report, including the audit scope, financial notes, and valuation assumptions.
The market will also watch whether Tether maintains annual audits beyond 2025, especially as newer figures continue to shift. In its Q2 2026 report, Tether stated that the company generated $1.5 billion in net operating profit, issued USD₮ reached approximately $184.6 billion, while its reserve buffer stood at $4.11 billion.
Following its first clean audit, the question for Tether will shift to the regularity and scope of transparency in subsequent reporting periods. Given USDT’s role in global crypto liquidity, that will be an even more critical test for the milestone just announced.
