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Tether completes KPMG U.S. audit of 2025 financial statements

Tether completes KPMG U.S. audit of 2025 financial statements

KPMG's unqualified opinion on Tether International's 2025 accounts marks the issuer's first full audit, though it does not extend to parent company Tether Holdings or resolve all questions over the broader group structure.

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Fact Check
Tether's official website (tether.io) directly confirms the core claim: KPMG U.S. completed a full independent audit of the 2025 financial statements (year ended December 31, 2025), issued an unqualified opinion under U.S. GAAP, examined the full financial statements including reserve composition and token liabilities, and physically inspected every gold bar. This matches the claim precisely. The Cryptobriefing news article independently corroborates the same facts. Both sources agree on the $6.814 billion excess of reserves over liabilities.
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Summary

Tether said KPMG U.S. completed the first full independent audit of the 2025 financial statements of Tether International, S.A. de C.V. and issued an unqualified opinion, the strongest standard audit outcome. The company said the audited accounts showed reserves exceeded liabilities by $6.814 billion at Dec. 31, 2025, and that KPMG reviewed the balance sheet, income statement, changes in equity, cash flow statement, transactions, ownership records, valuations, counterparties, internal systems and supporting evidence, including a physical count and inspection of every gold bar it held. The result moves Tether beyond the quarterly reserve attestations it had previously published and closes a long-delayed transparency milestone first promised in 2017, but the audit covers the USDT issuing entity rather than the wider Tether Holdings group. That distinction leaves open questions critics have raised about the broader corporate structure, related-party dealings and ownership disclosure, even as Tether says the clean opinion shows its financial infrastructure and governance have matured after years of scrutiny over reserves, including a $18.5 million 2021 settlement with the New York Attorney General and a $41 million CFTC fine that year.

Terms & Concepts
  • unqualified opinion: An auditor's conclusion that financial statements are presented fairly, in all material respects, under the applicable accounting rules.
  • reserve attestations: Periodic checks of selected reserve information that are narrower in scope than a full financial statement audit.
  • stablecoin: A digital token designed to track a stable value, typically by being backed by reserve assets.