Tether Holdings Limited, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, has published an assurance report to confirm that its Tether tokens are fully backed by its reserves. The company shared its Consolidated Reserves Report via Twitter on Tuesday, a report that is accompanied by an assurance opinion from accounting firm Moore Cayman.
The document examines Tether’s holdings as of February 28th, 2021, and according to the report, the company’s reserves exceeded the amount required to redeem the stablecoins issued as of the above-mentioned date. That’s because the firm’s consolidated total assets amounted to almost $35.3 billion and its consolidated total liabilities amounted to $35.2 billion.
Moore Cayman’s assurance opinion reads as follows:
“In our opinion, the CRR as prepared by the management of Tether Holdings Limited Group as of February 2021 at 11:59 PM UTC is presented in accordance with criteria set out therein and it, in all material respects, fairly stated.”
Tether’s USDT stablecoin is the largest in the world, having exceeded $42 billion in total circulating supply. Even so, the stablecoin’s 1:1 peg with the U.S. dollar has been received with skepticism, with some questioning the validity of the USDT’s backing.
However, the report doesn’t provide details regarding how Tether’s reserves are held. Plus, Moore Cayman’s assurance opinion regards Tether’s USDT stablecoin since information concerning the company’s gold-backed XAUT stablecoin “has not been subject to the scope of our assurance engagement.”
Still, according to Theblockcrypto.com, Tether’s general counsel Stuart Hoegner said that “all Tether tokens are fully backed by Tether’s reserves” and that the company held its reserves in cash and cash equivalents, an aspect the firm has been “clear about for years.”
Tether Holdings also declared that “Tether has always been fully backed, and the assurance opinion we made available today confirms it once again. As a leader in the growing cryptocurrency industry, we remain committed to being among the most transparent stablecoins.”
Regarding the way Moore Cayman conducted the assurance engagement, Hoegner stated the following:
“This includes independent examination of, among other things, extensive bank and fund statements, blockchain data, gold counts, contracts, and financial and other working papers obtained from third parties.”
The assurance report comes after in February, Tether and its sister firm Bitfinex settled with the New York Attorney General’s Office over an investigation centered on claims that the company misrepresented the degree to which its USDT was backed by fiat collateral.
Tether and Bitnex admitted to no wrongdoing then and agreed to pay $18.5 million for damages as part of the settlement. Moreover, the firms agreed to provide quarterly reports regarding their reserves.