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Ah, <\/span>Tether<\/a><\/span><\/span>\u2014the most popular stablecoin<\/a><\/span>, pegged to the U.S. Dollar and backed by cold, hard cash. Among other assets, as it was eventually <\/span>forced to admit<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Now, Tether Limited has <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> that it’s hired BDO Italia as its new accounting firm, with a brief to produce monthly attestation reports for its stablecoin UST\u2019s reserves.<\/span><\/p>\n Tether and Bitfinex CTO Paulo Ardoino tweeted out a meme with the news.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTether attestations will be completed by BDO Italia, part of BDO global, top 5 accounting firm. First one tomorrow,\u201d Ardoino wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n According to Tether\u2019s most recent <\/span>report<\/span><\/a> issued back in March, it holds about 86% of its reserves in cash and short-term deposits, 4.5% in corporate bonds, 3.8% in secured loans, and 6% in \u201cother investments\u201d which it notes includes \u201cdigital tokens.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Why does this accounting ramp-up matter? Well, Tether\u2019s reserves have been <\/span>called into question<\/span><\/a> before. With a massive $67.5 billion market cap that\u2019s grown exponentially since its inception in 2014, Tether has a lot to lose if its books aren\u2019t balanced.<\/span><\/p>\n With its new accountants in tow, Tether\u2019s move from quarterly to monthly reports could help increase retail investor trust and improve its relationships with regulators as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Last year, Tether and its parent company Bitfinex paid a $18.5 million fine when an investigation by the New York Attorney General\u2019s office found that Tether\u2019s promise that its stablecoin was fully backed by U.S. Dollars was \u201c<\/span>a lie<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n As Tether makes efforts to improve transparency, <\/span>wags<\/span><\/a> took to Twitter to <\/span>point out<\/span><\/a> that it\u2019s odd the company is emphasizing its new ties to a \u201ctop five\u201d accounting firm, when in the accounting world, the largest firms are referred to as the \u201cbig four<\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When you know that the accounting giants are known as the \u201cbig four\u201d it\u2019s quite funny to see Tether showing off about working with a \u201ctop five accounting firm\u201d https:\/\/t.co\/sz50DGTFDI<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 alex hern (@alexhern) August 18, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Others, like Skylands Capital hedge fund trader <\/span>Tom Hearden<\/span><\/a>, argued that an audit\u2014not attestations\u2014is what the people want.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou misspelled audit again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nBalancing Tether’s books<\/h2>\n
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