Tether announced it has chosen an unnamed “Big Four” accounting firm to carry out its first full audit of reserves for its US dollar–pegged token, USDT. The company said the firm will perform a “full independent financial statement audit” covering USDT and other aspects of Tether’s financials. The Big Four accounting firms are Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
According to Tether CFO Simon McWilliams, the firm was selected through a competitive process. Cointelegraph reached out to Tether for additional comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.
The scope of the audit will include an examination of assets, reserves and tokenized liabilities, along with an assessment of Tether’s systems, internal controls and financial reporting processes.
“For the hundreds of millions of people and businesses who rely on USDT every day, this audit is not just a compliance exercise; it is about accountability, resilience, and confidence in the infrastructure they depend on,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.
USDT remained the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, at roughly $184 billion as of Tuesday, more than double Circle’s USDC, which held about $78 billion. A recent Mizuho report noted that Circle’s USDC surpassed USDT in transaction volume for the first time since 2019.
Why Tether’s reserves are scrutinized
Tether maintains that USDT tokens are pegged 1:1 to fiat currencies and are backed 100% by the company’s reserves. Ardoino has said a large portion of those reserves are held in U.S. Treasurys. A BDO Global report indicated Tether’s holdings also include assets such as physical gold, Bitcoin (BTC) and secured loans.
Concerns about Tether’s financial stability resurfaced in December when BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes warned that USDT could face difficulties if the value of reserve assets declined. CoinShares head of research James Butterfill publicly pushed back against those warnings.
The audit announcement follows passage of the GENIUS Act in the United States, which creates a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. In January, Tether launched a GENIUS-compliant stablecoin, USAt, with Anchorage Digital Bank listed as the issuer.
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