The Financial Times reported that Tether has hired KPMG to conduct the first full audit of USDT’s financial statements and engaged PwC to assist in preparing its internal systems, according to people familiar with the matter.
The appointment follows Tether’s recent announcement that it had formally engaged a Big Four firm for an inaugural financial statement audit, without naming the provider. Until now, Tether relied on periodic reserve attestations from BDO Italia, which has produced USDT assurance reports since 2022.
The move coincides with Tether weighing a major equity raise and a push into the U.S. under the new federal stablecoin framework proposed by the GENIUS Act. USDT is the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, with roughly $185 billion in circulation. Tether stated in January it held more than $122 billion in direct U.S. Treasury securities and about $141 billion in total Treasury exposure, including related instruments such as overnight reverse repurchase agreements.
A comprehensive KPMG audit is expected to extend beyond reserve snapshots to cover Tether’s assets, liabilities and internal controls across its balance sheet—a process Tether described as “the biggest ever inaugural audit in the history of financial markets.” Tether said the Big Four firm was selected through a competitive process and that the company already operates at Big Four “audit standards,” but it has not set a public timeline for audit completion.
Cointelegraph reached out to Tether and KPMG; neither had responded by publication. PwC declined to comment.
Separately, Bloomberg reported in September 2025 that Tether was exploring a potential $20 billion equity raise implying a $500 billion valuation; Tether CEO Paulo Ardoino later said that figure had not been agreed upon while maintaining a $500 billion valuation target based on profits.
Tether has faced regulatory penalties in the past, including a $41 million Commodity Futures Trading Commission fine for making what the agency called “untrue or misleading statements” about reserves, and an $18.5 million settlement with the New York Attorney General over allegations of concealing losses and misleading investors about USDT’s backing. Under the NYAG settlement, Tether was required to provide detailed quarterly reserve reports for two years and later dropped opposition to their release.
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