24 March 2026 – Tether, the largest company in the digital asset industry, today announced that it has entered a formal engagement with a Big Four accounting firm to complete its first full independent financial statement audit, which is slated to be the biggest ever inaugural audit in the history of financial markets. At a scale rarely seen outside the world’s largest sovereign institutions and encompassing a uniquely complex mix of digital assets, traditional reserves, and tokenised liabilities, this audit marks a defining moment not only for Tether, but for the evolution of modern finance itself. This milestone reinforces Tether’s role as the category leader and its commitment to delivering the highest level of transparency, stability, and assurance available in global finance.

With USD₮ market capitalization at over $184 billion and a global user base of more than 550 million, Tether is setting the standard for responsible, large-scale digital asset infrastructure. The audit engagement reflects the company’s longstanding dedication to global accessibility, financial empowerment, and the unrestricted movement of value across borders, contributing to a more stable society globally.

A full audit by a Big Four firm is among the most rigorous and globally recognized forms of financial assessment. For Tether, the engagement of a Big Four underscores its commitment to providing deep assurance that USD₮ is fully backed, highly liquid, and operated with world-class risk management.

By formally engaging a Big Four audit firm, Tether is taking one of the most important steps, strengthening its position as the global leader in transparency, assurance, and regulatory readiness.

Currently, attestations are standard practice among all stablecoin issuers, but Tether is moving beyond this benchmark toward a full audit. During the initial engagement onboarding process, which concluded a few weeks ago, audit firms conducted a comprehensive assessment of Tether’s systems, internal controls, and financial reporting while engaging closely with a broad range of stakeholders. Given Tether’s scale and its central role in the digital asset ecosystem, the process attracted interest and participation from several audit firms. This level of engagement reflects the significance of the work and underscores why this review is widely viewed as one of the most important and closely examined initiatives the industry has undertaken to date.

Tether continues to strengthen and optimize its reserve composition, reinforcing its longstanding commitment to transparency, resilience, and prudent financial management. The group has consistently retained earnings within its broader ecosystem rather than distributing profits, ensuring capital remains readily available to support the stability of USD₮. These resources, held in affiliated proprietary holding companies, provide an additional layer of balance sheet flexibility that can be deployed as needed. As part of that process, Tether will be moving listed securities over the coming days. Importantly, the ongoing independent audit will provide full visibility into the strength and positioning of Tether’s reserves.

While others in the industry have settled for the minimum viable level of transparency, Tether is building the architecture against which the next generation of global financial standards will be measured. It is one further layer of institutional discipline in a company that has consistently chosen to lead rather than follow, and a signal to the entire digital asset industry of what serious, institutional-grade accountability looks like in practice.

“Tether’s mission has always been to build trust through action, not promises,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. “Trust is built when institutions are willing to open themselves fully to scrutiny. 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 USD₮ every day, this audit is not just a compliance exercise; it is about accountability, resilience, and confidence in the infrastructure they depend on.”

Tether has, over the years, invested in strengthening internal systems, expanding governance and financial controls, and preparing the company to meet the exacting standards of one of the world’s top accounting firms. The appointment of Chief Financial Officer Simon McWilliams in early 2025 has been key to this process, ensuring the company has the internal leadership and financial architecture needed for a comprehensive, fully independent 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,” said Simon McWilliams, Chief Financial Officer of Tether.

Tether’s progress toward this audit reflects its broader commitment to setting the standard for openness, responsibility, and real-world utility in the digital economy. Over the past several years, the company has:

• Strengthened its reserves, ensuring exceptional liquidity and conservative asset management
• Delivered consistent transparency updates, giving the public visibility into reserve composition
• Collaborated extensively with global law enforcement, helping identify illicit activity, freeze unlawful funds, and protect users
• Implemented robust compliance and risk systems, ensuring USD₮ maintains its position as a safe and reliable digital dollar
• These efforts have supported the rise of USD₮ as the most trusted, widely used, and mission-driven digital currency on the planet.

The audit is part of Tether’s larger vision to build a stable society where individuals and businesses can move money freely, access financial tools without gatekeepers, and benefit from a transparent, open infrastructure that empowers human potential. Tether believes that financial freedom is fundamental to personal freedom, and that open digital dollars are essential to enabling opportunity in regions where traditional financial systems are restricted, fragile, or inaccessible.

By completing this full audit, Tether aims to further strengthen the global foundation of trust that underpins USD₮, supporting the company’s mission to expand freedom in how people store, send, and use their money.