Tether Secures Clean Audit After 12-Year Wait
Tether International, the company behind the world's largest stablecoin USDT, has passed its first full audit in 12 years of operations. The comprehensive review by KPMG U.S. delivered an unqualified opinion on Tether's 2025 financial statements, covering the full fiscal year through December 31.
The milestone arrives after sustained scrutiny over Tether's reserves for years. The company settled with the New York Attorney General in 2021 and paid an $18.5 million fine. It was also fined $41 million by the CFTC over claims about USDT being fully backed by U.S. dollars.
The audit examined Tether's balance sheet, income statement, and cash flows across the entire fiscal year. Auditors went to the vaults and verified every single gold bar in Tether's possession, checking each bar's existence and identifying data directly. The audited 2025 statements showed a $6.814 billion surplus of reserves over liabilities at year-end.
Tether has faced criticism for its lack of transparency and refusal to submit to full audits in the past. However, with this audit, the company is building towards recurring annual audits, narrowing the gap with competitors like Circle's USDC, which has long positioned itself as the more transparent alternative.