Tether has engaged a major accounting firm to carry out its first complete financial statement audit of the reserves underpinning its USDT stablecoin, which currently holds a market value of $184 billion. The move marks a significant departure from the company’s previous practice of releasing only periodic attestations rather than full audits. The firm selected for the engagement has not been publicly identified by Tether.
According to the company, the audit will encompass a thorough examination of its assets, liabilities, internal controls, and reporting systems. Tether stated that the accounting firm was selected through a competitive process, suggesting multiple candidates were considered before a decision was reached. The scope of the review goes considerably further than the limited attestations the company has historically made available to the public.
The announcement comes against a backdrop of persistent criticism and regulatory scrutiny directed at Tether over whether USDT is genuinely backed on a one-to-one basis by liquid reserves. Skeptics and regulators have long questioned the transparency of the company’s reserve holdings, making the absence of a formal audit a recurring point of contention in the broader stablecoin debate. The decision to pursue a full audit appears to be a direct response to that sustained pressure.
Tether’s USDT is the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization and plays a central role in global cryptocurrency trading. Its stability and credibility are considered important to the functioning of broader digital asset markets. Any findings from the audit could therefore carry implications well beyond the company itself.
The identity of the Big Four accounting firm involved has not been disclosed, and Tether has not indicated a timeline for when the audit results are expected to be published. Until those results are released, questions about the full composition and liquidity of USDT’s reserves are likely to persist among market participants and observers.
Originally reported by CoinDesk.
