Tether Completes First Independent Audit by KPMG, Confirms Gold Reserves as USDT Market Cap Tops $183 Billion

Tether announced that KPMG U. S. has completed its first independent audit of the company's reserve assets. The company, headquartered in San Salvador, issues USDT, the world's largest stablecoin by market capitalization. During the audit, KPMG physically counted and verified the identity of every gold bar held by Tether, rather than relying solely on written reports from custodians or counterparties. Tether said all of its assets and financial statements passed independent substantive testing and verification.

Tether had faced market skepticism for years over reserve transparency and had previously expressed a desire to engage a Big Four accounting firm for an audit. As of August 2026, USDT's market capitalization exceeded $183 billion, making it the world's third-largest cryptocurrency. In recent years, Tether has increased its gold reserves, and its asset portfolio also includes US Treasuries and approximately $60 billion in Bitcoin. The KPMG audit covered the verification of these assets, though Tether's statement did not separately address the specifics of its Bitcoin holdings.

Tether's statement did not provide specific details of the audit report but emphasized that the audit process had been thoroughly completed. Company executives said the audit covered all reserve assets and confirmed the existence of every holding. External data providers estimate Tether's Bitcoin holdings at close to $60 billion, and its gold purchases have increased significantly in recent years. These figures, together with the scale of USDT's market capitalization, reflect the company's leading position in the crypto-asset market.