Tether said on 13 August 2026 that KPMG U.S. completed a full independent audit of Tether International, S.A. de C.V.’s financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 and issued an unqualified opinion, with audited reserves exceeding liabilities by $6.814 billion.
What an unqualified audit is (and is not)
In its company announcement, Tether described the engagement as a full financial-statement audit under U.S. GAAP and AICPA standards, covering the balance sheet (including reserve assets and token liabilities), income statement, changes in equity, and cash flows. An unqualified opinion means KPMG concluded those statements present fairly, in all material respects, the company’s financial position and results for that year, without reservations, exceptions, or caveats.
That is a step up from the quarterly reserve attestations Tether has published for years (most recently the BDO-prepared package as of 30 June 2026 that we covered in our 1 August Q2 report). An attestation checks specified reserve information at a point in time. A financial-statement audit tests a broader set of transactions, systems, valuations, counterparties, and supporting evidence across the year.
CoinDesk and Reuters independently reported the same core facts on 13–14 August. A KPMG U.S. spokesperson confirmed to both outlets that the firm issued an unqualified opinion on Tether International’s 2025 statements under AICPA standards, then declined further comment citing client confidentiality.
Tether also said auditors physically counted and inspected every gold bar in its holdings rather than relying only on custodian reports. CEO Paolo Ardoino called the clean opinion a “defining moment” after years of criticism that a full audit would never land; CFO Simon McWilliams said the $6.814 billion surplus “confirm[s] the quality of the public attestation reports.”
What was published, and what was not
The hard limit on what readers can verify themselves is the disclosure package. Tether announced the opinion and the year-end surplus figure. It has not published the full audited financial statements or the auditor’s report PDF. CoinDesk asked whether the findings would be shared and, as of its 14 August update, had not received a response. Without those statements, outside readers still cannot independently inspect the year-end reserve composition, income-line detail, or footnote disclosures the way they can open a public company’s 10-K.
Two dates matter and should not be mixed:
| Checkpoint | Source | Excess of assets over liabilities |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Dec 2025 (audited year-end) | Tether / KPMG announcement | $6.814 billion |
| 30 June 2026 (quarterly attestation) | BDO package in Tether’s Q2 release | $4.11 billion |
The June figure is newer and thinner than the audited December surplus. That is expected when gold, bitcoin, and other reserve assets mark to market and when token liabilities move; it is also why a year-end clean opinion does not freeze the reserve cushion in place for the rest of 2026.
USDT’s circulating supply sat near $180 billion around the announcement window, per CoinDesk’s framing. On a book that size, a multi-billion surplus is a material buffer and still a single-issuer credit story: redemption quality depends on what those reserves are, how liquid they are under stress, and whether authorized parties can actually redeem.
What the audit changes for USDT holders
Dollar-pegged tokens are the everyday rail for a large share of crypto activity across Latin America. Brazil’s H1 2026 purchase data showed stablecoins dominating declared volume; Argentina’s Bitso flows and Bolivia’s recent Peso × Yango Food USDT restaurant payments are the same pattern at street level. Freelancers, importers, and savers who treat USDT as working-dollar infrastructure are the audience this audit is actually for.
What the news changes:
- Scope of scrutiny. For the first time, a Big Four firm signed an unqualified opinion on a full year of Tether International’s financial statements, not only a reserve snapshot.
- What it does not change. Self-custody still removes exchange counterparty risk and does not remove issuer risk. Holding USDT in your own wallet means you still depend on Tether’s reserve quality and redemption path.
- What to watch next. Whether Tether publishes the audited statements; whether 2026 gets the same treatment; and how the next quarterly attestation’s surplus and composition compare with the audited year-end book.
An unqualified opinion is the strongest form of auditor’s conclusion. It is not a guarantee that reserves will stay ample, that every asset is instantly liquid, or that USDT is a substitute for a bank deposit with deposit insurance. Read it as a reporting milestone on the issuer behind the token many LatAm users already hold.
Takeaway
On 13 August 2026, Tether said KPMG U.S. completed a full audit of Tether International’s 2025 financial statements and issued an unqualified opinion, with reserves $6.814 billion above liabilities at year-end. Independent confirmation from KPMG to Reuters and CoinDesk supports the opinion claim; the full statements remain unpublished.
If you hold USDT for payments or savings, treat this as better independent scrutiny of the issuer’s 2025 books, then keep reading the quarterly attestations for the current cushion. This is reporting on an audit milestone, not financial advice.
