KPMG Audits Tether Gold: 520,089.350 Ounces Against 520,089.300 Tokens
Key Facts
Tether said on November 12, 2026, that KPMG U.S. had completed an independent audit of the financial statements of TG Commodities, issuer of the Tether Gold token, for the year ended December 31, 2025. KPMG issued an unqualified opinion on the statements, according to a Tether statement. The company said the opinion means the statements fairly present, in all material respects, the financial position, results and cash flows in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. The audit examined the company’s financial statements for the year under review, while the published figures include specific data on allocated gold and tokens issued at the end of that year. The move comes as Tether said an earlier audit covered Tether International, issuer of USD₮, for the same year.
The published figures showed that TG Commodities held 520,089.350 fine troy ounces of allocated gold on December 31, 2025, valued at $2.246 billion. On the same date, the number of XAU₮ tokens issued was 520,089.300. Tether said the backing is on a one-to-one basis, and the figures show the amount of gold and tokens on the same date. The comparison sets the volume of allocated assets against the number of tokens outstanding at the close of the fiscal year.
Tether said KPMG physically counted and inspected every gold bar backing XAU₮, and verified the bars’ existence and identifying details. According to the company, the procedure included examining the bars themselves, alongside a review of the financial statements that concluded with an unqualified opinion. It also said the gold is held in vaults in Switzerland and meets London Good Delivery standards. Holders of the tokens own the gold, the company added, with each token representing an undivided ownership interest in gold held in specified bars. The arrangement, the company says, links the token to allocated gold, while the published opinion covers TG Commodities’ financial statements.
Alongside the annual audit, Tether said TG Commodities’ management engages a qualified independent party to inspect a sample of the bars each quarter. The inspection aims, according to the company’s statement, to match information provided by refineries. The scope of this described periodic procedure differs from the inspection that the company said KPMG conducted of every bar backing the token. The published statement did not give a figure for the size of the quarterly sample, but said it includes a sample of the bars rather than all of them. The company thus presents the periodic sample inspection alongside the financial statement audit, which included counting and physically inspecting the bars, according to its account.
Tether previously said in August 2026 that an independent audit of the 2025 financial statements of Tether International, issuer of USD₮, conducted by KPMG U.S., had been completed. The company said at the time that the audit covered the year ended December 31, 2025. The announcement of the TG Commodities audit is therefore Tether’s latest announcement this year of an audit of the statements of a company issuing its tokens. The company described that figure as a confirmation by TG Commodities’ management, and also said XAU₮ holders had added more than 9 tonnes of gold equivalent since January.
In the same announcement, Tether said the total market value of its gold reserves rose 53% during 2026 through the end of the third quarter, from $2.25 billion on December 31, 2025, to $3.44 billion on September 30, 2026. Across the market, the World Gold Council reported that global gold demand fell 1% year on year in the third quarter of 2026 to 1,369 tonnes, while its value rose 22% to $188 billion, with an average price of $4,262 per ounce. Central banks and official institutions added 321 tonnes to their reserves during the quarter, up 42% year on year, the highest quarterly total since the fourth quarter of 2024; purchases since the start of the year reached 675 tonnes. 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.
Tether Chief Executive Paolo Ardoino said he believes XAU₮ is on track to become “the first real competitor to the gold ETF market.” Ardoino linked this view to the token’s ease of transfer and settlement, lower custody costs and blockchain transparency. The comparison remains a statement by the chief executive, while KPMG’s announced opinion focuses on TG Commodities’ financial statements. In its 2026 outlook, the World Gold Council cut its estimate for annual growth in investment demand from 400 tonnes to 200 tonnes, while expecting investment to remain the main driver of demand growth. The council’s forecast comes against a market backdrop combining a slight decline in global demand volume during the third quarter with an increase in demand value, according to its data.