Tether Completes First Full KPMG Audit With $6.814B Reserve Cushion

On Aug. 13, 2026, Tether announced that KPMG U.S. issued an unqualified opinion on Tether International, S.A. de C.V.'s financial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 2025. A KPMG U.S. spokesperson told The Block that the opinion was issued in accordance with AICPA standards (The Block).

The audit found Tether's reserves exceeded its liabilities by $6.814 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025 (BitPinas). The audit marks Tether's first full independent financial statement audit after years of relying on quarterly attestations (The Block).

What KPMG verified

KPMG physically inspected and counted the company's gold holdings, verifying over 146 metric tons of gold (BitPinas). The gold accounted for $17.45 billion of reserves at the audited date (The Defiant).

What wasn't disclosed

Although KPMG issued a clean opinion, Tether did not publish the actual financial statements, audit opinion letter, or underlying documents. The Defiant also reported that the audited reserve figure of $6.814 billion was $476 million higher than Tether's quarterly BDO attestation for the same date (The Defiant).

Market context

More than 650 million users rely on USDT globally (BitPinas). USDT's market capitalization was roughly $183 billion, representing about 61% of the total stablecoin market (Cointelegraph). Tether reported more than $10 billion in net profit for 2025.

Reserve buffer after the audit

Since the audit date, Tether's equity buffer has declined. Subsequent BDO attestations measured excess reserves at $4.11 billion as of June 30, 2026, down from an all-time high of $8.23 billion in March (The Defiant).

Tether International, S.A. de C.V., the El Salvador-registered operating entity that issues USDT, was the audited entity (BitPinas).