Leading stablecoin issuer Tether has secured a sign-off from Deloitte for the first reserves report linked to its new US-regulated stablecoin, after years of struggling in relations with major accounting firms.
Deloitte reviewed a report prepared by Anchorage Digital Bank, which issued the company’s new USAT token. In a letter released Monday, the accounting firm said Anchorage reported $17.6 million in reserve assets backing 17.5 million USAT tokens in circulation. Since the report, the token’s market capitalization has risen to nearly $20 million as growth accelerates.
The total market capitalization of the stablecoin sector has actually grown rapidly. It’s now past $315 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data, with Tether’s USDT accounting for $183 billion of that. Circle’s USDC comes in second with $76 billion.
The new USAT token follows the passage of the Genius Act last summer. The law limits the types of assets that can back stablecoins and requires major issuers to move under federal oversight. USAT is structured to comply with these rules.
However, third-party certifications like this are different from full audits. They offer a snapshot of reserves at a particular point in time rather than a deep review of the company’s finances.
Tether has leveraged the earnings it generates from the assets backing its stablecoins to invest in a multitude of industries. These include a majority stake in Latin American agricultural firm Adecoagro ( AGRO ), a privacy-focused health app, a stake in video sharing platform Rumble ( RUM ). It recently invested $200 million in digital marketplace Wop.
