Leading stablecoin issuer Tether has won approval from Deloitte for the first reserves report linked to its new US-regulated stablecoin, after years of difficulties in its dealings 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 was published, the token’s market cap has reached almost $20 million as its growth accelerates.
The total market capitalization of the stablecoin sector has actually been growing rapidly. According to CoinMarketCap data, it now exceeds $315 billion, including $183 billion for Tether’s USDT. 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 support stablecoins and requires large issuers to come under federal oversight. USAT is structured to comply with these rules.
Third-party attestations like this, however, differ from full audits. They offer a snapshot of reserves at a specific point in time rather than an in-depth look at the company’s finances.
Tether has leveraged the revenue it generates from the assets backing its stablecoins to invest in a plethora of industries. These include a majority stake in Latin American agricultural company Adecoagro (AGRO), a privacy-focused health app, and a stake in video-sharing platform Rumble (RUM). Most recently, it invested $200 million in digital marketplace Whop.
