Newsweek reported that recently, many social media users, including some Republican lawmakers, have called on Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to conduct an audit of Fort knox - a military facility that stores about half of the US gold reserves. The official name of the Fort knox gold mine is the "US Silver Reserve Center".
If an official audit is conducted, any difference between Fort knox gold and the reported figures could cause a major shock to the global gold market.
fort knox gold warehouse audit history
According to the Monetary Protection Alliance - an organization that mobilizes public opinion on financial policy, there has been no comprehensive audit of Fort knox's gold vault since the 1950s. The most recent partial audit was conducted in 2014.
In 2017, then-Financial Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate majority leader Donald Donald visited the facility, but it was not considered an official audit.
How much gold does Fort knox contain?
According to the US Bollcasting Agency, Fort knox gold reserves are currently storing about 4,581 tons of gold, accounting for about half of the total gold reserves of the US Treasury Department. With the current gold price of about 2,900 USD/ounce, a gold warehouse in Fort knox could be worth up to 426.3 billion USD.
However, some lawmakers and social media users have expressed skepticism about the accuracy of these figures if there is no comprehensive audit.
The debate on social networks
Famous financial account ZeroHedge posted on X (formerly Twitter): "It would be great if @elonmusk could check inside Fort knox to ensure the 4,581 tonnes of US gold is still there. The last time someone checked was in 1974! ".
Elon Musk replied, "Do you definitely have to do an annual check-up? ".
Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, replied: "No. Let's do it."
His father, former Representative Ron Paul, has long been skeptical about Fort knox's official numbers. He called for an audit in 2010 and told Fox Business Network: "American people deserve to know if gold is really there. Some believe that gold has been secretly moved out of Fort knox and sold, while others believe that the current gold bars in Fort knox are actually gold-plated vonfram".
Experts' views
Jamesickards, a lawyer and banking investor, told Newsweek that the audit could "resure American citizens' confidence in government statements." However, he also affirmed: "There is no basis to doubt that the US really has the correct amount of gold as it announced, about 8,133 tons".
ickards also mentioned a potential problem: part of US gold may have been leased for toll collection and the government certainly doesn't want to acknowledge it. DOGE may open up this issue.
Adrian Ash, research director of Bullion Vault, said that if the audit shows a smaller gold reserve than reported, world gold prices could be affected, and from a geopolitical perspective, "it would be a laughing stock in the world," and "perfectly in line with DOGE's view on corruption and lie."
What's next?
Elon Musk seems to be very interested in this idea. "It would be interesting if we could play livestream inside Fort knox," he said. ".
However, it remains unclear whether Elon Musk and the DOGE consulting firm will be allowed access to the high-security facility, or whether a comprehensive audit will actually go as many people hope.
