KPMG Counts Every Gold Bar as Tether's XAUT Clears $2.24 Billion Audit

Key Takeaways

Tether’s latest announcement marks another accounting milestone for the stablecoin heavyweight, with KPMG issuing an unqualified opinion on TG Commodities, S.A. de C.V., the company responsible for issuing XAUT. The examination covers the financial year ending Dec. 31, 2025, rather than the issuer’s present financial position.

KPMG ranks among the world’s Big Four accounting firms, operating an international network of professional services businesses specializing in auditing, taxation, and advisory services.

An unqualified opinion means the auditor determined that the financial statements fairly represented the company’s financial condition, in all material respects, under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. However, the opinion does not guarantee future solvency or independently establish the issuer’s current reserve holdings.

KPMG Physically Examines Every Gold Bar Backing XAUT

Rather than relying exclusively on custodial records, KPMG’s examination involved physically counting and inspecting every individual gold bar supporting XAUT, according to Tether’s announcement on Thursday. The audited financial statements identified 520,089.350 fine troy ounces of allocated gold, valued at approximately $2.246 billion, against 520,089.300 XAUT tokens outstanding as of Dec. 31, 2025.

The precious metal is reportedly secured in Swiss vaults and meets London Good Delivery standards. Each XAUT represents an undivided ownership interest in physical gold associated with specifically identified bars. Tether additionally maintains that an independent specialist conducts quarterly sample testing to validate refinery information, providing another examination mechanism beyond the annual financial audit.

“Two Tether stablecoins, two defining audits from a Big Four,” said Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CEO.

Ardoino added:

“KPMG counted every single bar as part of its Tether Gold audit. I firmly believe XAUT is on track to become the first true competitor to the gold ETF market, bringing more utility to the end user, from gold that can actually move and settle at the speed of light, to lower custody costs and higher transparency thanks to the blockchain technology.”

Tether Adds XAUT to Its Growing List of Audited Businesses

The development follows KPMG’s August 2026 unqualified audit opinion covering Tether International, issuer of USDT, giving the company a second completed Big Four audit involving its principal stablecoin operations.

“This is another landmark for Tether’s finance team,” said Chief Financial Officer Simon McWilliams. “Our strategy was deliberate: Start with the largest and most complex businesses, USDT and XAUT, and set the standard for the industry,” McWilliams added.

Importantly, audited historical financial statements offer different assurances from quarterly reserve disclosures. Both address asset backing, but their respective examination procedures, reporting periods, and accounting requirements are not interchangeable. The tokenized gold audit news comes as the stablecoin sector has logged a massive downturn since mid-May.

For Tether, the milestone strengthens its argument for institutional acceptance of tokenized gold while advancing its broader auditing ambitions. Whether the gold token XAUT can eventually compete with established gold exchange-traded funds remains uncertain. For now, the independent examination provides a clearer accounting record of historical reserves, although commercial success and continuing financial transparency remain separate considerations.