SS #86 - Tether Taps Big Four Firm for First Full Audit

📢 Sponsor | 💡 Telegram | 📰 Past Editions

Good morning.

Tether is finally getting a proper audit. The stablecoin giant has tapped an unnamed Big Four firm to conduct the first comprehensive review of its $184B USDT reserves, a move critics have been demanding for years.

Enjoy the read!

Let us know what sort of coverage you would like to see from the new publication.

If you know anybody who would benefit from this content, please help us spread the word!

In Today's Edition:

• Headline: Tether Taps Big Four Firm for First Full Audit

• Quick Bites: $CRCL Plunges 20%

• Yield of the Week: August USDC V2's 13.46% APY

You read and share. We listen and improve. Send us feedback at [email protected].

HEADLINE

State of play: Tether announced it has selected an unnamed Big Four accounting firm to conduct its first comprehensive audit of USDT reserves, a milestone after years of criticism over the stablecoin issuer's transparency and reserve disclosures.

• The audit covers assets, reserves, tokenized liabilities, internal controls and financial reporting, with the firm chosen through a competitive process.

• USDT holds a $184B market cap, more than double USDC's $78B, though USDC overtook USDT in transaction volume for the first time since 2019.

• Tether's reserves span US Treasurys, gold, BTC and secured loans, with critics like BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes flagging risks tied to reserve asset valuations.

• The move follows the GENIUS Act's passage in the US, which prompted Tether to launch its compliant USAt stablecoin in January via Anchorage Digital Bank.

• CEO Paolo Ardoino called the audit a step toward "accountability, resilience, and confidence" for the hundreds of millions of users relying on USDT.

What’s Next: Watch for which firm Tether names and whether the audit scope satisfies critics, especially around reserve liquidity and asset quality.

Why it Matters: A credible audit could settle crypto's biggest trust deficit and set the transparency bar ahead of GENIUS Act enforcement.

Our Take: Announcing an audit without naming the firm is peak Tether. The real question isn't if an audit happens, it's whether results come out unredacted and genuinely independent. Until then, it's PR first, proof later.

QUICK BITES

• Stablecoin startup Payy raises $6M in seed funding.

• Startale raises $50M from SBI to complete $63M Series A.

• Circle taps African fintech Sasai to expand USDC adoption.

• ZachXBT claims Circle wrongfully freezing exchange wallets.

• Ripple joins Singapore sandbox to test RLUSD in trade finance.

• Circle leads Tazapay extension as total Series B reaches $36M.

• Coinbase opposes stablecoin compromise in Senate crypto bill.

• Obex spreads $1B across credit, energy and AI to expand stablecoin yield.

• $CRCL plunges 20% as new draft of CLARITY threatens stablecoin rewards.

YIELD OF THE WEEK

August USDC V2: 13.46% APY

• The vault accepts USDC deposits and allocates liquidity across CME Span Methodology-reviewed markets, including Upshift receipt tokens and blue-chip collateral like stETH, with ~$8.3M in total deposits.

• Capital is primarily deployed into the August USDC V1 vault with 100% relative cap allocation, maintaining ~$819.52k in available liquidity and a position unit price of 1.014719 USDC.

• Yield is generated from lending and liquidity activity across curated Morpho markets, with a base vault APY of 13.26% boosted by 0.25% in MORPHO incentives, net of a 0.24% management fee and 0% performance fee.

Gauntlet USDC (Frontier): 16.53% APY

• The vault accepts USDC deposits and follows Gauntlet's Frontier Strategy, aggressively allocating to higher-volatility PT token and blue-chip collateral markets, with ~$1.66M in total deposits.

• Capital is deployed across PT-cUSD, WBTC, wstETH, WETH, and weETH Morpho markets at 100% utilization, with the largest allocation being PT-cUSD-23JUL2026 at 91.5% LTV representing ~$1.51M of the vault.

• Yield is generated from lending demand across fully utilized collateralized markets, delivering a 16.53% net APY after a 10% performance fee, with individual market rates ranging from 12.12% to 12.76%.

PT reUSDe: 14.4% Fixed APY

• The market accepts reUSDe deposits and provides fixed-yield exposure to re.xyz's insurance-backed stablecoin, maturing June 25, 2026, while also earning 5x Sats and 30x Re points for KYC-verified users.

• Capital is deployed into re.xyz's insurance underwriting platform via Pendle Router, with 1 reUSDe converting to 1.33556 USDe at maturity.

• Yield is generated from underwriting low-volatility personal and commercial insurance lines on re.xyz, with the PT locking in a fixed 14.4% APY while YT holders capture remaining variable yield and points.

If you enjoy reading this issue, please consider subscribing. It takes 1 minute of your time, but it would mean the world to us 🙇

Disclaimer: All the information presented in this publication and its affiliates is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be construed or taken as financial, legal, investment, or any other form of advice.