Tether confirmed on Thursday that KPMG US has completed a full independent audit of its financial statements, marking the first time the stablecoin issuer has received such an audit from the major accounting firm. The company, which operates out of El Salvador, did not make the audit report publicly available.
In a statement, Tether said KPMG US issued an "unqualified audit opinion," a classification the company described as meaning the financial statements "present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position," and that "the results of operations and cash flows for the period were accordance with US generally accepted accounting principles."
"We can confirm that we issued an unqualified opinion on Tether International, S.A. de C.V.'s financial statements in accordance with AICPA standards for the year ending December 31, 2025," KPMG said in an email. "Due to client confidentiality, we have no further comment."
Prior to this audit, Tether had explained that obtaining a full, independent audit had proved difficult. The company cited reputational concerns among major global accounting firms and the lack of standardized cryptocurrency regulation as reasons it had been unable to secure a comprehensive audit in earlier periods.
Instead of full audits, Tether had published quarterly reserve attestations. Those attestations offered limited, time-bound snapshots of the issuer's holdings rather than the broader, period-spanning assurance that an audit is intended to provide.
The timing of the audit has relevance to Tether's previously stated capital plans. Over the past year the company had targeted raising as much as $20 billion at a valuation of $500 billion. Some prospective investors had declined to participate in the fundraising because an independent audit had not been available. Tether said the capital raise was placed on hold in part while awaiting the audit and in part due to the current downturn in the cryptocurrency market.
The completion of the audit represents a change in the company's reporting posture, but the absence of public release of the audit file leaves certain details accessible only to the company and its auditor. KPMG's email emphasized that, beyond confirming the issuance of an unqualified opinion for the year ending December 31, 2025, it would not provide further comment because of client confidentiality.
The developments highlight the intersection of audit access, investor due diligence, and market conditions in the stablecoin sector. Tether's prior use of reserve attestations and its fundraising pause were directly linked to the availability of an independent audit and broader market dynamics.
Disclosure: Sofia Navarro is the author of this report.