Tether CEO Says Firm No Longer Sees Itself as a Crypto Company After KPMG Reserve Audit

Tether said a Big Four audit by KPMG included a physical verification of its gold holdings, with auditors confirming roughly 150 tons of gold stored in a Swiss vault. The company added that the review found total reserves exceeded liabilities by $6.8 billion. Speaking to Fortune, CEO Paolo Ardoino described the process as "physically demanding work." Market observers said the audit addresses one of the industry's most persistent doubts around USDT: whether the stablecoin is fully backed and could face a large-scale redemption event. Ardoino said Tether has not viewed itself as a crypto firm for some time. "I think we are a digital dollar and digital gold company," he said. He put Tether's user base at more than 650 million globally, with much of the demand coming from Africa and South America, where repeated currency devaluations have increased interest in stable digital assets. Beyond financial services, the company said it has spent the past two years investing in areas such as decentralized communications, agriculture, and a network of solar-powered kiosks that provide off-grid electricity for a few dollars a month. Tether's next priority, Ardoino said, is building foundational AI services aimed at users in developing markets. He argued that even in the poorest countries most people have mobile phones capable of running simple AI models. The focus is positioned as low-cost baseline tools across categories including healthcare, finance, sports and other verticals, with pricing envisioned at a few dollars per month paid via Tether's stablecoin or another digital payment method. Ardoino also warned that existing income inequality could deepen into a wider divide if an "intellectual gap" emerges alongside the wealth gap.