Tether Clears Audit Hurdle with Clean Opinion, But Transparency Concerns Persist

Tether International, the issuer of the widely used USDT stablecoin, has received an unqualified opinion from KPMG U.S. on its 2025 financial statements.

The audit shows that Tether's reserves exceeded liabilities by $6.8 billion as of December 31, 2025, according to CEO Paolo Ardoino.

Ardoino dismissed criticism of the stablecoin issuer, saying 'Honestly, I don't care' and pointing out that Tether has proven itself many times.

The clean audit opinion is a significant development for Tether, which has faced years of questions about its assets backing USDT. However, critics have pointed out that neither the audited financial statements nor KPMG's full report has been released publicly.

Ardoino attributed the delay in completing an audit to the previous U.S. administration's approach towards digital assets and major accounting firms' reluctance to work with cryptocurrency companies due to regulatory risk.