Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), recently hinted at the possibility of conducting a review of the gold reserves located at Fort Knox in Kentucky.
The discussion began when the well-known financial blog Zerohedge suggested on X that Musk should verify whether the 4,580 tons of U.S. gold reserves at Fort Knox are still there. Musk responded to this by saying, “Shouldn’t we review it at least once a year?”
According to data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Fort Knox is the main storage location for U.S. gold reserves, holding over 147 million troy ounces (approximately 4,580 tons) of gold, accounting for about 56.35% of the U.S. federal government’s gold reserves.
In 1974, the U.S. government conducted a public inspection of the gold at Fort Knox to refute conspiracy theories circulating at the time about the vault being empty. Members of Congress and the media were invited to visit, but there has not been a similar independent audit since then.
Currently, the gold reserves at Fort Knox are protected by the U.S. Mint Police, with strict restrictions on visitors entering.
On Monday, February 17th, Musk posted on the social media platform X, saying, “Looking for gold at Fort Knox…” He also shared a post from Senator Mike Lee, who mentioned being denied entry to the military facility.
In response, Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky suggested that Musk take action, emphasizing the need for more transparency regarding Fort Knox and its stored assets. He stated in an interview that auditing not only helps confirm the presence of gold but also reminds the public of the importance of gold to the value of the dollar.
As the debate continues, prominent Bitcoin advocate and Senator from Wyoming, Cynthia Lummis, also joined the discussion. She proposed incorporating Bitcoin into the U.S. foreign exchange reserves to leverage its transparency and auditability advantages.
She stated on social media, “Bitcoin solves this problem. The Bitcoin reserves can be audited at any time using basic computing. It’s time to upgrade our reserves.”
On February 10th, after Trump announced new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, the price of gold soared to a record high, surpassing $2,900 per ounce. This demonstrates that as global financial market uncertainty rises, the demand for safe-haven assets continues to increase.
With Musk and several senators urging for an independent audit of Fort Knox’s gold reserves, the discussion about auditing the gold reserves at Fort Knox has once again captured public attention. If an audit were to be conducted, any discrepancies between the gold reserves at Fort Knox and reported figures could potentially impact the global gold market.
(This article referenced a report by the “Congressional Hill Report”)