KPMG Audit Accompanies XAU₮ Reserves of 520,089 Ounces at End-2025
Key Facts
Tether announced on November 12, 2026, that KPMG U.S. had completed an independent audit of the financial statements of TG Commodities, the issuer of XAU₮, for the year ended December 31, 2025, and issued an unqualified opinion. The company said the auditor concluded that the statements present, in all material respects, the financial position, results and cash flows in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. On the same date, TG Commodities confirmed 520,089.350 fine troy ounces of allocated gold, against 520,089.300000 XAU₮ tokens in circulation. Tether put the total market value at $2,246,458,120. This figure separates the financial-statement audit result from the reserve figures the company reported as management confirmations at year-end.
Tether said KPMG counted and inspected every gold bar backing XAU₮ and verified its existence and identifying details, rather than relying only on custodian confirmations. The company said this described the scope of the bar inspection it announced as part of the audit, alongside the auditor’s opinion on the financial statements. But the amounts of gold and tokens on December 31 were reported in the reserve statement as a confirmation by TG Commodities, and that figure alone does not make it an independent reserve measurement result. The company said each token represents one fine troy ounce of gold in an eligible bar. It added that the reserves are held in Switzerland and comply with the London Good Delivery standards set by the London Bullion Market Association.
In a later reserve update, Tether said physical gold backing the token totaled 827,417.630 fine troy ounces on September 30, 2026, against 827,417.630000 tokens in circulation. The reported total market value on that date was $3,439,914,329. The company estimated reserve growth at about 59% during 2026, from 520,089 ounces at the end of 2025 to 827,418 ounces at the end of September. It also said the market value of reserves increased 53%, from $2.25 billion to $3.44 billion. The end-September figures are a separate update from the annual audit, which covered the year ended December 2025.
Tether also distinguished between the gold corresponding to tokens sold and the gold backing tokens available for sale. The fair market value of gold held by the custodian against tokens sold was $2,948,949,277 at the end of the third quarter of 2026, while the value of gold backing tokens available for sale was $490,965,052. The company said token holders had added the equivalent of more than 9 tonnes of gold to their holdings since January 2026. It added that Swiss reserves grew by 766 London Good Delivery bars during the year, rising from 1,291 to 2,057 bars. It said a qualified independent party tests a sample of bars each quarter to verify information provided by refineries.
The token’s reserve growth coincided with an increase in the value of global gold demand despite a decline in volume in the third quarter of 2026. The World Gold Council said demand, including over-the-counter trading, fell 1% year on year to 1,369 tonnes, while its value rose 22% to $188 billion. The average gold price under the LBMA PM price benchmark was about $4,262 an ounce, up 23% year on year, and the third-highest quarterly average on record. Demand since the start of the year reached 3,881 tonnes through the end of the third quarter, close to the record level of 3,884 tonnes in 2025. The council said Egypt’s demand for bars and coins rose 5% year on year to 6 tonnes, attributing the increase to a weaker pound that boosted gold’s appeal as a savings vehicle.
In institutional demand, central banks and other official institutions added 321 tonnes to their reserves in the third quarter, up 42% year on year and the highest quarterly total since the fourth quarter of 2024. Purchases reached 675 tonnes since the start of 2026, up 6% year on year. Physically backed gold exchange-traded funds also returned to inflows, adding 211 tonnes in the third quarter and lifting holdings to a record 4,256 tonnes. The World Gold Council attributed fund inflows in part to growing concerns about fiscal sustainability and inflation, following outflows in the second quarter. In Egypt, bar and coin demand increased as retail investment in the Middle East fell 24% to 22 tonnes.
Tether Chief Executive Paolo Ardoino said he believes XAU₮ is on track to become “the first true competitor to the gold ETF market.” Ardoino linked that view to the token’s ease of transfer and settlement, lower custody costs and blockchain transparency. Chief Financial Officer Simon McWilliams said the company’s strategy began with audits of its largest and most complex activities, USD₮ and XAU₮, and that these milestones support progress toward an audit of Tether’s entire business. For the remainder of 2026, the World Gold Council expected demand for gold ETFs, bars and coins to remain resilient. It also expected central-bank purchases to at least match 2025’s total following a strong third quarter.