Tether said KPMG U.S. completed the first full independent audit of the stablecoin issuer's financial statements, issuing an unqualified opinion for the year ended December 31, 2025. The reserve surplus of $6.814 billion marks a departure from Tether's prior practice of annual attestations, which examined reserves without the full scope of a financial audit.
The audit examined transactions, valuations, counterparties and ownership records across Tether's balance sheet. KPMG conducted a physical count of Tether's gold holdings as part of the review, according to the company's announcement. The unqualified opinion, the highest assurance standard, covers all material aspects of Tether's financial position as of year-end 2025.
Tether has long faced scrutiny from regulators and market participants over the composition and verification of its reserves. The company previously published reserve attestations from Deltec Bank and Trust, which confirmed that reserves existed but did not constitute a full financial audit under accounting standards. Those attestations did not examine Tether's liabilities in the same depth or cover the full range of accounting assertions that an audit requires.
The audit comes as spot Bitcoin ETF inflows have slowed in 2026. U.S. spot Bitcoin funds recorded $329 million in net outflows from Monday through Thursday of this week, while Ether products showed a $3 million net outflow. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index stood at 29 on August 14, indicating continued market defensiveness, though above last month's reading of 25.
Tether remains the dominant stablecoin by market capitalization. The company's decision to pursue a full audit may address pressure from institutional investors and potential regulatory expectations around stablecoin issuers' financial transparency, though no U.S. federal stablecoin regulation has been enacted.
KPMG's unqualified audit opinion removes one layer of historical uncertainty around Tether's reserves. Attestations verified that assets existed, but audits verify that assets are properly classified, valued and reconciled to liabilities in accordance with accounting standards. The first full audit's completion now allows direct comparison between Tether's stated reserves and a third party's independently verified findings.
