Tether Engaging With 'Big 4' Accounting Firm on Independent Audit: Report

Stablecoin giant Tether has said that it is in talks with a Big Four accounting firm to get independently audited, according to a report on Friday by Reuters. 

The company—which is now based in El Salvador—has struggled to get a top accounting firm to independently audit what backs its stablecoin. 

The company is "engaging" with one of the top firms, the firm's CEO Paolo Ardoino said, according to Reuters. The Big Four accounting firms are PwC, EY, Deloitte and KPMG. 

Tether did not immediately respond to Decrypt's request for comment. 

Tether mints stablecoins—digital tokens backed by assets such as gold and dollars. Tether’s main product, USDT, is the most-traded cryptocurrency in the industry and the third biggest virtual token in market capitalization, according to data provider CoinGecko.

USDT, which Tether says is backed by U.S. treasuries and other assets, runs on a number of blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, and Tron. It will also soon be available on Bitcoin’s network. 

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Traders use USDT—and other stablecoins—to quickly enter and exit crypto transactions without having to access traditional financial rails, a reason for their popularity. 

But regulators have in the past criticized Tether for not being transparent enough about what backs its token in reserves. Tether has said it is keen to work with a Big Four firm for an audit. 

Tether in 2021 agreed to no longer do business in New York after a two-year state attorney general investigation found that the firm had "made false statements about the backing" of its token.

New Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, currently custodies billions of dollars in assets that back Tether. 

Edited by James Rubin