Tether to Audit Its Reserves with a Big Four Firm as Trump Puts Crypto in the Spotlight

Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, plans to audit its asset reserves and is seeking a Big Four accounting firm for the process. The Big Four—PwC, Ernst & Young, Deloitte, and KPMG—are among the potential candidates, though CEO Paolo Ardoino has not yet disclosed which firm Tether has approached. The audit aims to enhance transparency between the company and the Tether community.

Ardoino, in an interview with Reuters, said that its reserve reports have been assessed quarterly so far. A full audit of its reserves now comes across as necessary, Ardonio said, owing to the pro-crypto approach that US President Donald Trump has initiated.

“If the President of the United States says this is top priority for the US, Big Four auditing firms will have to listen,” the report quoted the Tether chief as saying.

Tether was founded in 2014 as a blockchain-based platform to offer fiat-to-crypto services. Its stablecoin USDT was launched in October 2014.

In the last decade, the USD-pegged stablecoin Tether has become the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap, data tracking platforms like CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko showed. Due to its stablecoin status, each Tether token maintains a 1:1 ratio with the US dollar. The present market cap of USDT stands at $143.5 billion (roughly Rs. 12,27,635 crore).

In his interview, Ardoino stated that Tether's stability comes from being fully backed by dollar-denominated reserves. He credited President Trump's pro-crypto stance for motivating the company to pursue this long-overdue full audit. As part of this effort, Tether appointed senior business advisor Simon McWilliams as CFO to prepare the company for the audit.

Ardoino has yet to specify a timeline for the audit's completion. However, he stated that Tether was the seventh-largest buyer of US Treasuries in 2024.

Tether reportedly clocked $10 billion (roughly Rs. 86,655 crore) in net profit last year. Earlier this year, the company announced that it was shifting its headquarters from the British Virgin Islands to El Salvador, which offers better ​crypto-friendly policies.