Throughout a latest trade on X, Elon Musk was inspired to broaden his cost-cutting initiative, the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), to one of the crucial safe places within the U.S.: Fort Knox, the Military facility famously believed to comprise 4,580 tons of gold. The dialog, which included contributors from the Bitcoin neighborhood to present lawmakers, has rekindled longstanding debates concerning the transparency and precise contents of America’s gold reserves.
Musk Ignites The Dialogue
It began when monetary information aggregator Zerohedge (@zerohedge) tagged Musk, proposing, “It might be nice if @elonmusk might test inside Fort Knox simply to confirm that the 4,580 tons of US gold is certainly there. The final inspection was 50 years in the past in 1974.”
The tweet, seen by 1.9 million customers and appreciated over 59,000 instances, prompted Musk to inquire: “Absolutely it’s reviewed not less than yearly?” Zerohedge shortly responded: “It ought to be. It isn’t.”
This sparked a wave of reactions and speculations on-line. Queries regarding the final thorough audit of the Fort Knox vault resurfaced, together with ongoing rumors that the gold reserves could have been bought or diminished.
Shortly thereafter, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), 62, contributed to the dialog with a short endorsement for a proper inspection, stating: “Nope. Let’s do it,” in response to Musk’s ideas. Paul’s father, former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), has lengthy advocated for elevated transparency concerning america’ gold holdings. Within the Seventies, Ron Paul famously raised alarms concerning the potential insecurity or shortage of the gold.
The latest identified excursions of Fort Knox came about in 1974, when journalists and Congress members have been allowed entry, and once more in 2017, when the ability briefly opened its doorways to former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. Regardless of this, there is no such thing as a publicly accessible report of a complete audit in latest many years, which fuels conspiracy theories suggesting that the gold might not be saved at Fort Knox in any respect.
If the vault certainly accommodates 4,580 tons of gold, estimates counsel its worth could be about $425 billion at present market costs.
Repercussions For Bitcoin
The rising skepticism round Fort Knox’s gold holdings has fed right into a broader dialogue about Bitcoin’s verifiability. Nate Geraci, President of the ETF Retailer and Co-Founding father of the ETF Institute, identified how BTC might clear doubts surrounding possession: “If solely there have been a technological answer that will permit anybody to independently confirm possession of an asset,” Geraci remarked, including, “By the best way, if for some motive Fort Knox doesn’t truly home the gold… it’s recreation on for BTC. For my part, the gold is there. However not less than now everybody would possibly totally acknowledge the necessity for real-time & foolproof asset possession verification.”
Others echoed this sentiment. Dennis Porter, CEO and founding father of Satoshi Act Fund, highlighted Bitcoin’s steady transparency: “Another excuse why states (and the federal authorities) ought to favor Bitcoin over gold. The general public can audit authorities Bitcoin holdings 24/7/365. The final thorough audit of our gold reserves came about over 70 years in the past.”
U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis, a longstanding Bitcoin advocate and Chair of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Property below President Donald Trump, emphasised the necessity for modernization: “Bitcoin fixes this. A Bitcoin reserve might be audited at any time, 24/7, with a primary laptop. It’s time to improve our reserves.”
Some imagined excessive situations, predicting outcomes if a Fort Knox audit unveiled significantly much less gold than formally reported. Walker, host of THE Bitcoin Podcast, outlined a hypothetical sequence of occasions beginning with an audit initiated by Elon Musk, adopted by findings of “lower than 500 tons of gold.”
He speculated that an govt order could also be issued by Trump to ascertain a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, resulting in worldwide competitors for Bitcoin whereas diminishing gold’s market stature. By the top of Walker’s intensive state of affairs, “China and Russia notice Trump obtained forward of them and try to amass Bitcoin,” leading to a decline in gold’s worth relative to Bitcoin—whereas vocal gold advocate Peter Schiff finally ends up, as Walker humorously said, “dedicated to a psychological hospital.”
Right here’s what’s going to occur:
1. Elon urges Trump to audit Fort Knox.
2. Audit reveals there’s lower than 500 tons of gold.
3. Trump acknowledges China and Russia possess considerably extra gold than the U.S., however little or no Bitcoin.
4. Trump points an govt order for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, citing… pic.twitter.com/hQrAk7vMj1— Walker⚡️ (@WalkerAmerica) February 16, 2025
Eric Balchunas, a Bloomberg ETF analyst, responded to Walker’s audacious prediction with measured skepticism, asking: “What a prediction. What % probability would you assign to this truly occurring?”
Whether or not these audits materialize stays unsure. As of now, there was no official affirmation from the U.S. Treasury or the Division of Protection concerning a complete public evaluate of Fort Knox. However, a Fort Knox audit might maintain vital ramifications for gold costs and doubtlessly for Bitcoin, sometimes called digital gold.
At press time, BTC was buying and selling at $96,383.
Featured picture created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
