Tether taps Big Four firm for first full financial audit to boost transparency
Tether is working with a Big Four accounting firm to carry out its first comprehensive independent financial audit, the digital asset company said Tuesday.
Tether Signs Big Four Firm to Complete First Full Audit, Setting a New Quality Standard for the Digital Asset Economy
Read more: https://t.co/rtsB7l4nJL
— Tether (@tether) March 24, 2026
Tether said the audit could be the largest inaugural audit in financial history due to the size and complexity of its reserves, which include crypto assets, traditional financial instruments, and tokenized liabilities.
The move, as noted by the firm, is aimed at enhancing transparency and confirming Tether’s role as a leading institution in global digital finance.
“Tether’s mission has always been to build trust through action, not promises,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said. “Trust is built when institutions are willing to open themselves fully to scrutiny.”
The stablecoin giant has not revealed which one of the Big Four firms is participating.
“This audit represents years of work to strengthen our systems so that Tether can meet the highest standards applied in global finance. For the hundreds of millions of people and businesses who rely on USDT every day, this audit is not just a compliance exercise; it is about accountability, resilience, and confidence in the infrastructure they depend on,” he highlighted.
The GENIUS Act and regulatory pressure
Tether’s USDT dominates the stablecoin sector, with a market cap above $184 billion and a user base exceeding 550 million worldwide.
The stablecoin is profitable but under continued scrutiny, with transparency, legal compliance, reserve composition, and centralization risks keeping it under watch from regulators and market participants.
The GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025, imposes new requirements on large stablecoin issuers, including mandatory monthly reserve attestations and annual independent audits.
Tether had previously relied on periodic attestation reports rather than full audits, so the law turned what had been a stated goal into a legal obligation.
Tether’s history with reserve transparency
Tether was founded in 2014 and grew quickly by offering traders a dollar-pegged token that could move across exchanges and blockchain networks.
In 2021, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined Tether $41 million for misrepresenting its reserves. The company had, at various points, claimed full cash backing when a significant portion of its reserves actually consisted of commercial paper and other less liquid instruments.
The hiring of Simon McWilliams as chief financial officer in early 2025 was aimed at preparing for an audit.
“The Big Four Firm was selected through a competitive process because the organisation is already operating at Big Four audit standard; the audit will be delivered,” he said.
Financial and law enforcement cooperation
Tether reported net profits above $10 billion in 2025, down from roughly $13 billion in 2024. The company has also pointed to its cooperation with global law enforcement, saying that approximately $4.2 billion in USDT linked to illicit activity has been frozen.
In January 2026, Deloitte confirmed that Tether’s USAT stablecoin maintained over 100% backing, a result the company cited as evidence of audit-readiness across the organization.