Tether has completed an independent audit of its reserves with KPMG U.S., the first time a Big Four accounting firm has signed off on the stablecoin issuer's books. KPMG physically counted and inspected every individual gold bar Tether holds, in what the company described as the largest inaugural financial audit in history.
Inside the KPMG audit
KPMG U.S. went through Tether's reserves line by line. That included a physical count of the gold bars the company holds — every single one, inspected individually. The scale of the job was unusual. Tether holds nearly $60 billion in Bitcoin in its reserves, according to Arkham Intelligence, and more U.S. treasuries than some countries.
The audit was described as the largest inaugural financial audit in history. That's a big claim, but the numbers back up the scale of the task. USDT has a market cap of over $183 billion, making it the third biggest cryptocurrency. The stablecoin is used across exchanges, in trading pairs, and as a store of value in markets where local currencies are volatile.
A long road to a Big Four sign-off
Tether has spent years trying to get a Big Four firm to audit its reserves. The company had struggled to find one willing to take the job, a problem that has followed USDT since its early days. The completion of this audit with KPMG closes a chapter that has hung over the stablecoin issuer for a long time.
The struggle wasn't for lack of trying. Tether had approached the major accounting firms before, but none had signed on. KPMG U.S. is now the first to complete the job. The audit gives Tether something it has never had: an independent, Big Four-verified picture of what actually backs USDT.
What backs USDT
The audit covers a lot of ground. KPMG counted the gold bars, but the reserves go well beyond that. Tether holds nearly $60 billion in Bitcoin, according to Arkham Intelligence, and its U.S. treasury holdings exceed those of some countries. All of it backs USDT, the stablecoin that sits at the center of much of crypto's trading volume.
For USDT holders, the audit provides something they haven't had before: a Big Four sign-off on the reserves. That's a meaningful step for a token that has faced questions about its backing for years. The questions were never quiet — critics have long pointed to the lack of a full audit as a reason for caution.
The $183 billion question
The audit is done. Whether it settles the questions that have followed Tether for years is a separate matter — but the company now has a Big Four sign-off it can point to. The next audit will be the one to watch, and whether KPMG signs off a second time will say a lot about how much has actually changed.
