Tether has received an “unqualified opinion” from accounting firm KPMG for its 2025 financial statements. This unqualified opinion represents the highest rating in financial accounting standards, while also marking the first full audit in the company’s history since its inception in 2014. In response to this achievement, Tether’s management described the move as the “largest inaugural audit in history.”
Not Just a Paper Audit
Over the past eleven years, Tether only published quarterly attestations. These attestations were merely high-level reviews of reserve holdings at a specific point in time, rather than a full examination. However, in this KPMG audit, auditors went through Tether’s entire books.
The scope of the audit covered a long list: tracing assets and liabilities, checking cash flows and revenues, and dissecting internal operational systems. Every transaction record, the suitability of business counterparties, and all supporting documentation were also subjected to multi-layered testing.
One detail of the examination highlights the rigor of this audit. The KPMG auditing team refused to rely on custodian reports for the company’s gold reserves. They went in person to inspect and physically count every gold bar stored in Tether’s vaults.
For the company led by CEO Paolo Ardoino, this clean audit from a Big Four firm puts their past legal troubles behind them. In 2021, Tether had to pay an $18.5 million settlement to New York prosecutors for presenting inaccurate reserve data. In the same year, the CFTC imposed a separate $41 million fine. Ardoino emphasized that this audit result serves as decisive proof to counter the barrage of false claims, competitor lies, political attacks, and incorrect media coverage that has targeted them for years.
Ammunition to Challenge American Rules
Beyond the audit status, Tether’s balance sheet operates like its own money-making machine. Its second-quarter report recorded a profit of $1.5 billion. Tether’s US Treasury holdings portfolio now even surpasses the reserves of most countries in the world.
The combination of deep cash reserves and audit clarity gives Tether the momentum to enter the United States market. They are launching a new domestic stablecoin line and intensively engaging with regulators, sheltered under the framework of the GENIUS Act.
This maneuver alters the dynamics of the stablecoin market. For Circle, the issuer of USDC, its rival’s achievement poses a serious threat. Circle has long cultivated an image as a transparent, regulation-compliant alternative to differentiate itself from Tether. Now that Tether has secured a full audit from an elite firm, Circle’s unique selling point has faded, swept away by the mainstream.
Reported by Decrypt.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
