Tether has completed its first-ever independent financial statement audit, with KPMG U.S. issuing an unqualified opinion on Tether International, S.A. de C.V.'s financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025. The audited results show reserve assets exceeded liabilities tied to issued tokens by $6.814 billion.
According to Tether, KPMG examined the balance sheet, income statement, statement of changes in equity, and cash flow statement under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. The firm tested transactions, internal systems, asset ownership, valuations, counterparties, and supporting documents. KPMG also physically counted and inspected every gold bar held by Tether, verifying identifying information rather than relying only on custodian or counterparty statements.
CEO Paolo Ardoino said the audit sets a new standard for the industry, while CFO Simon McWilliams emphasized that the $6.814 billion surplus is consistent with earlier reserve attestations. Tether described the opinion as a clean audit, the strongest conclusion an independent auditor can reach.
The engagement goes beyond Tether's quarterly attestations, which only check reserves at a specific point in time. The company began the process in March 2026 after appointing a Big Four accounting firm, later identified as KPMG. At that time, USDT had a market capitalization above $184 billion and more than 550 million users; Tether now puts its user base above 650 million.
The audited 2025 figures are separate from 2026 quarterly reports. Tether's Q2 2026 attestation, prepared by BDO, showed $187.75 billion in assets against $183.64 billion in liabilities, $1.5 billion in quarterly net operating profit, about 146.2 metric tons of physical gold, and 98,933 BTC. The company also reported roughly 707,747 fine troy ounces backing its XAUT token by March 31, 2026, up from about 520,000 ounces at the end of 2025.
Tether's history includes a $41 million CFTC fine in October 2021 over reserve backing misrepresentations. The new audit arrives as U.S. stablecoin rules under the GENIUS Act continue to be implemented, with foreign issuers facing evolving compliance requirements. Tether has introduced USAT as a separate U.S.-market dollar-backed token issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, with Cantor Fitzgerald as reserve custodian.
