Tether Engages Big Four Firm for First USDT Audit

Tether, the issuer of the world's largest stablecoin USDT, announced on Tuesday that it has engaged an unnamed Big Four accounting firm to conduct its first full independent financial audit, a move aimed at verifying the reserves backing its approximately 184 billion in circulating tokens.

The audit, which Tether described as potentially the largest inaugural financial review in history due to the scale and complexity of its holdings, will examine assets, liabilities, internal controls, and financial reporting systems. These reserves, primarily composed of U.S. Treasury bills along with smaller allocations in gold, bitcoin, and secured loans, are intended to maintain USDT's one-to-one peg with the U.S. dollar. The company, founded in 2014 and based in El Salvador, has more than 550 million users worldwide who rely on the stablecoin for trading and transactions across blockchain networks.

This step represents a significant upgrade from Tether's previous practice of issuing quarterly attestations by BDO Italia, an Italian firm that provided snapshots of reserves without directly examining accounts or conducting a comprehensive review. Those reports, while confirming asset...