During a recent exchange on X, Elon Musk was encouraged to broaden his cost-cutting initiative, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to one of the most secure locations in the U.S.: Fort Knox, the Army facility famously believed to contain 4,580 tons of gold. The conversation, which included participants from the Bitcoin community to current lawmakers, has rekindled longstanding debates about the transparency and actual contents of America’s gold reserves.
Musk Ignites The Discussion
It all started when financial news aggregator Zerohedge (@zerohedge) tagged Musk, proposing, “It would be great if @elonmusk could check inside Fort Knox just to verify that the 4,580 tons of US gold is indeed there. The last inspection was 50 years ago in 1974.”
The tweet, seen by 1.9 million users and liked over 59,000 times, prompted Musk to inquire: “Surely it’s reviewed at least every year?” Zerohedge quickly responded: “It should be. It isn’t.”
This sparked a wave of reactions and speculations online. Queries concerning the last thorough audit of the Fort Knox vault resurfaced, along with ongoing rumors that the gold reserves may have been sold or diminished.
Shortly thereafter, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), 62, contributed to the conversation with a brief endorsement for a formal inspection, stating: “Nope. Let’s do it,” in response to Musk’s thoughts. Paul’s father, former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), has long advocated for increased transparency regarding the United States’ gold holdings. In the 1970s, Ron Paul famously raised alarms about the potential insecurity or scarcity of the gold.
The most recent known tours of Fort Knox took place in 1974, when journalists and Congress members were allowed access, and again in 2017, when the facility briefly opened its doors to former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. Despite this, there is no publicly accessible record of a comprehensive audit in recent decades, which fuels conspiracy theories suggesting that the gold may not be stored at Fort Knox at all.
If the vault indeed contains 4,580 tons of gold, estimates suggest its value would be about $425 billion at current market prices.
Repercussions For Bitcoin
The growing skepticism around Fort Knox’s gold holdings has fed into a broader discussion about Bitcoin’s verifiability. Nate Geraci, President of the ETF Store and Co-Founder of the ETF Institute, pointed out how BTC could clear doubts surrounding ownership: “If only there were a technological solution that would allow anyone to independently verify ownership of an asset,” Geraci remarked, adding, “By the way, if for some reason Fort Knox doesn’t actually house the gold… it’s game on for BTC. In my opinion, the gold is there. But at least now everyone might fully recognize the need for real-time & foolproof asset ownership verification.”
Others echoed this sentiment. Dennis Porter, CEO and founder of Satoshi Act Fund, highlighted Bitcoin’s continuous transparency: “Another reason why states (and the federal government) should prefer Bitcoin over gold. The public can audit government Bitcoin holdings 24/7/365. The last thorough audit of our gold reserves took place over 70 years ago.”
U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis, a longstanding Bitcoin advocate and Chair of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets under President Donald Trump, emphasized the need for modernization: “Bitcoin fixes this. A Bitcoin reserve could be audited at any time, 24/7, with a basic computer. It’s time to upgrade our reserves.”
Some imagined extreme scenarios, predicting outcomes if a Fort Knox audit unveiled considerably less gold than officially reported. Walker, host of THE Bitcoin Podcast, outlined a hypothetical series of events starting with an audit initiated by Elon Musk, followed by findings of “less than 500 tons of gold.”
He speculated that an executive order may be issued by Trump to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, leading to international competition for Bitcoin while diminishing gold’s market stature. By the end of Walker’s extensive scenario, “China and Russia realize Trump got ahead of them and attempt to acquire Bitcoin,” resulting in a decline in gold’s value relative to Bitcoin—while vocal gold advocate Peter Schiff ends up, as Walker humorously stated, “committed to a mental hospital.”
Here’s what’s going to happen:
1. Elon urges Trump to audit Fort Knox.
2. Audit reveals there is less than 500 tons of gold.
3. Trump acknowledges China and Russia possess significantly more gold than the U.S., but very little Bitcoin.
4. Trump issues an executive 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 % chance would you assign to this actually occurring?”
Whether these audits materialize remains uncertain. As of now, there has been no official confirmation from the U.S. Treasury or the Department of Defense regarding a comprehensive public review of Fort Knox. Nevertheless, a Fort Knox audit could hold significant ramifications for gold prices and potentially for Bitcoin, often referred to as digital gold.
At press time, BTC was trading at $96,383.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
