Tether Says KPMG Completed Its First Big Four Audit of 2025 Financials

Stablecoin issuer moves from routine attestations to a full audit by a major global accounting firm.

Tether has completed what is being described as its first audit carried out by a Big Four accounting firm, according to a report from Forkast. KPMG signed off on the stablecoin issuer’s 2025 financials, the outlet reported.

For much of its history, Tether has published quarterly attestations rather than full audits. Those attestations, prepared by smaller firms, offered a snapshot of reserves at a single point in time. They stopped short of the deeper verification that a full audit typically requires.

Critics and regulators have long pressed Tether for greater transparency. The company issues USDT, the largest stablecoin by market value, and its reserves underpin a token used widely across trading, payments, and decentralized finance. Any doubt about those reserves carries outsized weight given USDT’s role as a liquidity backbone for much of the crypto market.

Bringing in a Big Four firm marks a different tier of scrutiny than Tether has previously accepted. Big Four firms, which include KPMG, Deloitte, EY, and PwC, apply audit standards that go beyond point-in-time attestations. They typically require deeper testing of controls, documentation, and underlying processes.

Tether has faced years of skepticism over how its reserves are composed and whether they fully back the USDT in circulation. Regulatory settlements in the United States years ago required increased reporting, and the company has since published attestations more frequently while promoting the quality of its reserve holdings.

A completed audit from a globally recognized firm could help address some of that skepticism among institutional users, exchanges, and regulators. It does not, on its own, resolve every question stakeholders have raised about stablecoin issuers generally, including how reserves are held, where they are custodied, and how quickly they could be liquidated under stress.

The timing also lands amid broader regulatory efforts to formalize stablecoin oversight. Lawmakers and regulators in multiple jurisdictions have been working on frameworks that would set reserve, disclosure, and audit requirements for issuers like Tether. A voluntary move toward Big Four-level review could be read as an effort to get ahead of those requirements rather than wait for them to be imposed.

Details on the scope of the audit, including which entities and reserve categories KPMG examined, were not included in the available reporting. It also remains unclear whether this audit will become a recurring annual practice or represents a one-time engagement tied to 2025 financials specifically.

Market Impact

News of a completed Big Four audit could bolster confidence among traders and institutions that rely on USDT for settlement and liquidity. Greater assurance around reserve backing tends to matter most during periods of market stress, when questions about a stablecoin’s solvency can trigger rapid redemptions.

The development may also influence how regulators and competing stablecoin issuers position themselves on transparency. If Tether’s move sets a new benchmark, other issuers could face pressure to pursue similar audits rather than relying on attestations alone.

The reported audit represents a notable step for a company that has spent years defending its reserve practices under public and regulatory scrutiny. Whether it becomes a recurring standard, or how regulators respond, remains to be seen as further details emerge.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did KPMG reportedly do for Tether?

According to Forkast, KPMG completed an audit of Tether’s 2025 financials, marking the company’s first audit by a Big Four accounting firm.

How is an audit different from Tether’s previous attestations?

Attestations typically confirm reserve figures at a single point in time, while a full audit involves deeper review of financial statements, controls, and underlying processes.

Why does this matter for the broader stablecoin market?

USDT is the largest stablecoin by market value and underpins liquidity across trading and decentralized finance, so greater assurance over its reserves affects confidence market-wide.

Will Tether continue using Big Four audits going forward?

The available reporting does not specify whether this audit will recur annually or was a one-time engagement tied to 2025 financials.

Original source: AltcoinGordon

Syndicated coverage. Originally reported by altcoingordon.com.