KPMG counted Tether Gold's bars: 520,089 ounces for 520,089 tokens
Tether says KPMG gave Tether Gold (XAU₮) a clean audit for 2025, its second Big Four audit after USDT. The gold matched the tokens almost to the ounce.
Key points
- KPMG U.S. issued an unqualified (clean) opinion on TG Commodities, the issuer of Tether Gold, for the year ended December 31, 2025, Tether said on November 12, 2026.
- At year end the issuer held 520,089.350 fine troy ounces of allocated gold, worth $2.246 billion, against 520,089.300 XAU₮ tokens in issue.
- It is Tether's second Big Four audit. KPMG audited the USDT issuer for the same year in August, and Tether says reserves beat liabilities by $6.814 billion.
What Tether announced
Tether Gold is a token meant to track physical gold. Each XAU₮ represents an ownership share in gold on specific bars stored in vaults in Switzerland. On Thursday, November 12, Tether said KPMG U.S. had completed a full audit of TG Commodities, S.A. de C.V., the company that issues the token.
An audit is a deeper check than the quarterly reports, called attestations, that most stablecoin issuers publish. KPMG gave an unqualified opinion, which means it found the financial statements fair in all material respects. Tether says KPMG counted and inspected every gold bar. CEO Paolo Ardoino said: "KPMG counted every single bar."
Gold versus tokens
On December 31, 2025, the issuer held 520,089.350 fine troy ounces of allocated gold. Tokens in issue were 520,089.300. By our math that leaves 0.05 ounce more gold than tokens, so supply and backing matched almost exactly. The gold was valued at $2.246 billion on that date.
Between audits, Tether says an independent firm tests a sample of bars each quarter to check refinery records. The company did not name that firm.
Bigger now than in the audit
The audit is a snapshot that is more than 10 months old. In a November 4 post, Tether separately reported that the gold behind XAU₮ hit a record $3.44 billion, citing growth through the third quarter of 2026, with customer holdings up 73% since the start of the year. That newer figure is Tether's own and was not audited.
Gold backing Tether Gold (XAU₮)
US$ billion
Source: Tether, November 12, 2026. The two figures use different dates and the second is unaudited.
What the audit does and does not tell you
An audit tests a company's books on a set date. Here that date is December 31, 2025. It shows that the gold existed and matched the tokens then. It does not show what happened to the metal in 2026, and it is not a promise about the future.
Tether's announcement also does not link to the full audit report, so readers cannot yet see the notes on how the gold is held or what other assets and debts TG Commodities carries. The page does not explain how holders can redeem tokens for metal either. Those are the details a careful holder would want to read in the report itself.
The USDT audit came first
In August, Tether announced that KPMG had audited Tether International, the USDT issuer, for 2025, also with an unqualified opinion. CFO Simon McWilliams said reserves exceeded liabilities by $6.814 billion. He called the gold audit another milestone for Tether's finance team.
LC Insight analysis
This section is our reading of the facts above, not a statement of fact.
- We think the audit answers the oldest question about gold tokens: is the metal there? For year-end 2025, a Big Four firm says yes, bar by bar.
- The open gap is time. The audited number is from December 31, 2025, while the token has grown since. The likely next ask from holders is an audit of 2026 on a faster timeline.
What's next
- Whether Tether publishes the full KPMG report for TG Commodities
- A 2026 audit timeline
- The name of the quarterly bar-testing firm
Disclaimer. This article is based on public information and the sources listed below as of the update time shown. It is for information only and is not investment, legal or tax advice. Figures may change as companies and authorities publish new data.
