Tether
Tether Holdings
Data verified on last change the sources
Worth it if you operate in emerging markets or need the most liquid, most widely accepted stablecoin, taken almost everywhere in crypto, with reserves reportedly mostly US Treasuries.
Avoid it if you use EU-regulated exchanges: it's not MiCA-compliant and was delisted on July 1, 2026 (Binance, Kraken, Coinbase EU, Revolut); a full independent audit is still missing.
Tether is the issuer of USDT, the world's largest USD-pegged stablecoin (about $190 billion outstanding in May 2026, up from ~$118 billion at the start of 2025 and roughly 60% of the entire stablecoin market). USDT is technically issued by Tether Holdings Limited, while operations sit with a group that in January 2025 relocated its headquarters to El Salvador after obtaining a Digital Asset Service Provider licence. Reported reserves are mostly US Treasuries (~80% in the Q4 2025 attestation), plus gold, Bitcoin and secured loans. Tether publishes quarterly attestations signed by BDO Italia and has appointed KPMG as its first auditor for a full audit, not yet delivered. USDT is not compliant with the EU's MiCA regulation and was delisted from EU-regulated exchanges at the 1 July 2026 deadline.
Data & conditions
| Account fee | Not disclosed |
|---|---|
| ATM withdrawal | not declared |
| Fund custody | Custodial (platform holds funds) |
| KYC | Full |
| Supported countries | LATAM, APAC, MENA, AFRICA |
| Regulator | Comisión Nacional de Activos Digitales (El Salvador) |
| OAM Italy registration | No |
| Segment | B2B, B2C |
| Funding / solidity | Issuer of USDT, the world's largest stablecoin (~$190bn outstanding in May 2026, up from ~$118bn at the start of 2025; ~60% of the stablecoin market). Reserves mainly in US Treasuries (~80% per BDO Italia's Q4 2025 attestation), plus gold (~5%), Bitcoin (~3%) and secured loans |
| MiCA / License status | Digital Asset Service Provider licence (El Salvador) DASP licence in El Salvador; USDT is not MiCA-compliant and has been delisted from several EU platforms |
Strengths
- Most liquid and widely used stablecoin in the world, accepted almost everywhere in crypto
- Reported reserves mostly in US Treasuries
- DASP licence in El Salvador and dominant role in emerging markets
- No notable sovereignty advantage documented.
Weaknesses
- Quarterly attestations (BDO Italia) but no full independent audit: KPMG has been appointed as first auditor, but the audit has not yet been delivered
- Not MiCA-compliant: delisted from EU-regulated exchanges at the 1 July 2026 deadline (Binance, Kraken, Coinbase EU, Crypto.com, Revolut)
- Centralized issuer with the ability to freeze USDT addresses
- Custodial: the platform holds your funds and can freeze or lose them.
- Full KYC required: verified identity, zero pseudonymity.
- Subject to regulation (DASP licence in El Salvador; USDT is not MiCA-compliant and has been delisted from several EU platforms): reporting to authorities and freezes on order.
Verdict
Score 4.2/5, very strong profile. In its favour: most liquid and widely used stablecoin in the world, accepted almost everywhere in crypto. The trade-off to weigh: quarterly attestations (BDO Italia) but no full independent audit: KPMG has been appointed as first auditor, but the audit has not yet been delivered.
On the Sovereignty lens the score is 0.6/5 (weak): the strength is censorship resistance (1.5/5), while privacy & anonymity (0.0/5) is the weak link.
Promp's editorial rating based on real fees and net annual cost. Promp reviews third-party products independently.
"Sovereignty" rating: score computed on privacy/anonymity (30%), fund control (20%), censorship resistance (20%), trustless/auditability (20%) and costs (10%). Same data, different weights.
Reputation
What happened to people who used Tether, and what users say. External signals: they do not feed the promp.it rating.
Incidents & regulatory actions
History not verifiedWe have not yet completed the incident search for this service: no entries here does not mean no events.
Public reviews
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Google Play ↗
4.4/5
382 reviews
Official tether.wallet app (developer Tether Data). Structured data: ratingValue 4.4375 and ratingCount 382 (the page shows "382 reviews", so they match).
-
Trustpilot ↗
1.9/5
14 reviews
Profile not claimed by Tether. 14 reviews in total, none in the last 12 months: a tiny, dated sample. Complaints are mostly about support and withdrawals.
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App Store ↗
4.8/5
13 reviews
Official tether.wallet app (developer TETHER DATA SA DE CV, linked from wallet.tether.io), launched April 2026. iTunes lookup data for the US store: 4.769 from 13 ratings. Italian store: 5.0 from 5 ratings. Very small sample.
Weighted average across 3 public review platforms (409 reviews in total), weighted by volume. This is not our rating: it is those platforms’ average.
FAQ
Is USDT available to Italian users?
USDT is not compliant with the EU's MiCA regulation and has been delisted from several regulated platforms in the EU. It remains widely traded globally but is not intended for regulated retail distribution in Italy/EU.
Are USDT's reserves verified by an audit?
Tether publishes quarterly attestations of its reserves signed by BDO Italia (mostly US Treasuries), but historically not a full audit to Big Four standards. It has appointed KPMG as its first auditor for a full audit, not yet delivered.
Sources
- coinmarketcap.com Data verified on Jul 17, 2026
- eco.com Data verified on Jul 17, 2026
- en.wikipedia.org Storia Data verified on Jul 17, 2026
- phemex.com Data verified on Jul 17, 2026
Show 1 more source
- tether.io Sede Data verified on Jul 17, 2026
Update history
- USDT in circulation: ~$190bn (May 2026). Q4 2025 reserve composition per the BDO Italia attestation: ~80% US Treasuries, ~5% gold, ~3% Bitcoin, ~5% secured loans. Tether appointed KPMG as its first auditor for a full audit, not yet published. With the 1 July 2026 MiCA deadline, USDT was delisted from EU-regulated exchanges (Binance, Kraken, Coinbase EU, Crypto.com, Revolut).