Tokenised Gold Might Pave Way for Bitcoin’s Growth, Says Expert

Speculation has been bubbling within the crypto community about the potential tokenisation of US Government gold reserves on blockchain. It comes amid reports that Elon Musk was considering using blockchain to track federal data for DOGE, and President Trump’s recent promise to “go into Fort Knox to make sure the gold is there”.

But what does it mean for Bitcoin? 

Analysis from Global Head of Research at NYDIG (New York Digital Investment Group), Greg Cipolaro, published on March 21 has highlighted the fact that tokenised assets (RWAs) still rely on centralised entities — unlike open, permissionless networks like Bitcoin. 

It is important to separate these tokenization efforts from something like Bitcoin—the former relying on coordination with centralized entities while Bitcoin was designed to explicitly remove centralized entities.

Greg Cipolaro, Global Head of Research at NYDIG

However, Cipolaro said the growing trend of real-world asset tokenisation and increased awareness of digital assets “could ultimately benefit Bitcoin”.

Cipolaro’s note describes how a tokenised federal gold reserve could improve transparency, cost efficiencies, administrative, liquidity and investor access. He said blockchain could be used to issue tokens that represent 1 fine troy ounce of gold held within the reserve, and/or record transactions related to the reserve to provide a “digital receipt”.

“While this technique may help with outside auditing and real time inspection using digital receipts, it still requires outsiders to trust the entity recording these entries,” he said.

Related: Ripple Eyes $16 Trillion in Value for Tokenisation on XRP Ledger and RLUSD

Is Tokenisation of US Gold Reserves Realistic?

Elon Musk has previously talked about introducing blockchain tech as part of his efforts to bring  ‘efficiency’ to US Government departments. That intention has been linked to a more recent push by Musk and President Donald Trump to audit gold bullion reserves held at Fort Knox. 

Like the mythical city of gold, ’El Dorado’, not everyone is convinced that the heavily guarded US Army base Fort Knox genuinely holds a US$400 billion chunk of the nation’s gold bullion reserves. 

It’s not the first time rumours have swirled about whether Fort Knox’s gold stash is real, or whether it may have been stolen. And when was the last time anyone actually saw it anyway? A number of memes shared via X/Twitter pointed to the idea that Fort Knox is rarely audited while Bitcoin is ‘audited’ every 10 minutes. 

Cipolaro’s note points out that concerns about the gold reserve are largely unfounded, given that the Office of Inspector General (OIG) does, in fact, annually audit the Treasury’s reserves. And Trump’s own Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed in February that the gold does exist.

We do an audit every year, so the audit that ended the year, September 30th 2024 —  all the gold is present and accounted for.

Scott Bessent, US Treasury Secretary

Despite the lack of evidence, Elon Musk and Trump have both fuelled the speculation that Fort Knox is suspicious. 

Related: JPMorgan: ‘Debasement Trade’ Elevates Gold and Bitcoin in Investor Portfolios

Musk tweeted in February: “This gold is the property of the American people. I sure hope it’s still there!” Trump announced that he’d take the time out of his busy schedule of initiating mass layoffs and disrupting global markets with sweeping tariffs, to go on a gold hunt. 

We’re actually going to Fort Knox to see if the gold is there, because maybe somebody stole the gold. Tons of gold.

Donald Trump, US President

Musk even expressed his excitement about live streaming the event.

Philip Diehl, former director of the US Mint, who has physically been to see the gold at Fort Knox said it was problematic to always open the doors to the secure facility every time a rumour emerged. 

“Just walking in and having a bunch of reporters and photographers taking pictures of the gold is sort of a silly idea about assuring us that the gold is there,” he said.