According to Bloomberg, stablecoin issuer Tether has temporarily shelved its planned fundraising round, which originally aimed to raise up to $20 billion. The company is now waiting for the results of its first comprehensive financial audit before deciding whether to restart fundraising efforts. Sources familiar with the matter stated that during the fundraising process, potential investors and banks have consistently demanded that Tether increase its financial transparency. The company has hired one of the "Big Four accounting firms" (typically Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, or KPMG) to conduct the audit, but has not yet disclosed the specific firm or timeline. Previous reports indicated that Tether initiated fundraising last year with a target of raising $15 billion to $20 billion at an estimated valuation of approximately $500 billion, which would make it one of the highest-valued private companies globally if completed.