‘We proved them wrong’: Tether lands KPMG’s first ‘clean’ audit opinion

Tether has finalized its full audit by KPMG, marking the first time by one of the Big Four auditing and accounting firms. 

In a statement, the USDT stablecoin issuer said that the auditor gave a ‘clean’ opinion on its 2025 financial statements. The firm added that this is the most positive form of opinion an independent auditor can issue. 

For his part, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino used the final audit to clap back at critics. 

This is a defining moment for the stablecoin industry. For years, some detractors said an audit of Tether could not be completed. They said the Company refused to subject itself to the most rigorous scrutiny. We have once again proven them wrong.

Tether’s reserves under scrutiny

For years, critics have poked holes at the firm’s management and questioned the authenticity of its reserves backing USDT. 

In fact, in late 2025, S&P Global joined the list of critics and downgraded the firm’s USDT stablecoin from “constrained” to “weak.”

According to the rating agency, USDT had only 77% of its reserves in U.S Treasury bonds and cash equivalents. The rest were increasingly exposed to BTC and gold, which the rating agency deemed highly risky. 

The stablecoin’s issuer alleged lack of transparency was also included as part of the reasons for the downgrade. 

Well, USDT is the firm’s offshore product and has no solid guidelines on its reserve composition. In fact, for the period ending in June, USDT had only about 75% reserve exposure on T-bills and cash equivalents. Gold and metals accounted for 10% while BTC exposure was only 3%. 

Will critics now leave Tether alone?

However, its U.S-focused product, USAT, is meant to have 1:1 backing with nearly 100% reserves in T-bills or cash equivalents. Reacting to the audit, ETF expert Nate Geraci said, 

Until that problem is solved (sharing stablecoin yield), Tether will never face any real competitive pressure given its scale IMO.

But some critics aren’t fully satisfied with the audit. According to Swan CEO Cory Klippsten, Tether ownership still remains a mystery, and the audit was only for one of the subsidiaries (Tether International). 

That said, the stablecoin issuer is a money printer. It raked in $1.5B in net profits in the last quarter alone. Its USDT holders have crossed the 650M milestone and are climbing. 

Final Summary

• Tether has finalized its first full audit by KPMG with a positive “clean” rating from the auditor 
• However, critics still question the firm’s ownership, claiming that the audit is only for a subsidiary company called Tether International.