Bitcoin, sometimes called digital gold, has rocketed higher over the last year as a combination of Wall Street adoption, regulatory tailwinds and macro economic forces converge—sparking “dangerous” bubble warnings.
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The bitcoin price has topped $100,000 per bitcoin since Donald Trump’s November election victory, with Coinbase’s chief executive predicting exactly when he thinks bitcoin will eclipse gold’s $18 trillion market capitalization.
Now, as Elon Musk brands the U.S. debt clock “terrifying,” bitcoin-backing U.S. senator Cynthia Lummis has pitched Musk a bitcoin “fix” to questions over the U.S. gold reserves.
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Elon Musk, the Tesla billionaire who is leading the Doge department of government efficiency, has … [+]
“Bitcoin fixes this,” Lummis posted to X in response to Musk’s question about how often the U.S. gold in Fort Knox is reviewed. “A bitcoin reserve could be audited any time 24/7 with a basic computer. It’s time to upgrade our reserves.”
Lummis, a Republican senator from Wyoming, last year introduced The Bitcoin Act to Congress, calling for the creation of a strategic bitcoin reserve to reduce the U.S.’s spiraling, near-$36 trillion national debt by buying 1 million bitcoin over five years.
Musk, who has been tearing through the U.S. government via his Doge department of government efficiency in recent weeks, was himself replying to an X post that asked Musk to “look inside Fort Knox just to make sure the 4,580 tons of U.S. gold is there.”
“Surely it’s reviewed at least every year,” Musk asked.
The gold price has surged in recent weeks, pushed higher by growing fears of an international trade war that could weigh on the global economy.
Gold has hit a new record of $2,942.70 per troy ounce, up almost 10% since Trump’s January 20 inauguration while the bitcoin and stocks including the S&P 500 index have flat-lined.
Gold’s rally has spurred bullish bitcoin price speculators to bet it will soon soar past its all-time high of almost $110,000 per bitcoin, according to Deribit options data reported by Coindesk.
“The recent decrease in volatility, coupled with the rising price of gold, should highlight bitcoinʼs growing appeal as an alternative store of value,” analysts with the Bitfinex crypto exchange said in emailed comments. “We believe that while bitcoin may face some short-term pressures due to macroeconomic headwinds in the coming weeks, its long-term value proposition continues to strengthen.”
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The bitcoin price boom since Donald Trump’s election victory has stalled but some have predicted the … [+]
Meanwhile, analysts with broker Bernstein have predicted Donald Trump’s proposed U.S. crypto task force will focus on starting up a national bitcoin reserve that could see the Federal Reserve issue debt or sell some of its gold reserves to fund bitcoin purchases.
“A creation of a U.S. bitcoin reserve could lead to a global race amongst sovereigns to buy bitcoin as one of the reserve assets,” analysts led by Gautam Chhugani wrote.
Such a fund “would consider key U.S. crypto companies/market leaders, as strategic assets to own. Investors should position themselves for the next leg of the bull market across bitcoin and bitcoin linked equities.”
Last week, Abu Dhabi’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund revealed it’s betting on bitcoin, buying $436 million worth of BlackRock’s spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) during the final quarter of last year, according to a regulatory filing.
In recent months, rumor and speculation has swirled that countries and their wealth funds are secretly buying bitcoin, helped by explosive comments from BlackRock’s chief executive in January.
Last week, Donald Trump’s crypto czar David Sacks teased “important announcements are coming soon” after confirming the Trump administration is exploring the feasibility of a national reserve of bitcoin, similar to the U.S.’s oil and gold reserves.
“That is one of the first things we’re going to look at as part of the internal working group in the administration,” Sacks said of a potential bitcoin reserve at a press conference earlier this month.
