Tether Hires KPMG for First Big Four Full Audit of USDT Reserves As Stablecoin Giant Eyes US Expa...

Tether has hired KPMG to perform a full audit of USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin, which currently has around $184 billion in circulation after years of relying on point-in-time attestations.

KPMG To Conduct First Full Audit Of $184B USDT

The Financial Times reported on Friday that Tether hired KPMG, following the company’s earlier announcement that it had engaged an unnamed “Big Four” accounting firm for the first time to conduct a full financial statement audit.

According to the FT, Tether has also brought in PwC to ready its internal systems for the audit, representing the El Salvador-based company’s most significant move yet toward full financial transparency.

The dual appointments come as Tether navigates investor hesitation in its fundraising efforts while pushing for U.S. market expansion under the new federal stablecoin framework created by the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act

The audit will provide a thorough review of Tether’s entire financial reporting framework, including internal controls and asset valuations, an effort the company has described as “the biggest ever inaugural audit in the history of financial markets.”

Why It’s a Big Deal

The company had previously released monthly attestations from BDO Italia verifying that USDT was backed by the assets Tether reported to hold. Tether revealed in January that it held over $122 billion in direct U.S. Treasury securities, with total Treasury exposure reaching about $141 billion when including related instruments like overnight reverse repurchase agreements

However, those assurances do not match the depth of a comprehensive financial statement audit, which KPMG is now set to carry out, according to the Financial Times.

Tether said it selected the Big Four firm through a competitive process and claims to already meet Big Four-level audit standards, though it has yet to publicly confirm a timeline for completing the audit.

The audit marks a major turning point for the firm, which has long faced questions over reserve transparency and was fined $41 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in 2021 for making misleading statements about USDT reserves.

Early this year, Tether launched USAT, a fully regulated, GENIUS Act–compliant dollar-pegged stablecoin. However, with just $27 million in circulation, it remains tiny compared to USDT.