President Donald Trump's reported plans to audit Fort Knox's gold reserves could lead to increased scrutiny of gold holdings, potentially driving investors toward bitcoin, Copper Head of Research Fadi Aboualfa told The Block. He noted that if gold ETFs cannot verify full backing, they might trade at a discount, causing a global liquidity drain and prompting reallocations into digital assets.

"A time of increased scrutiny on underlying gold stocks could see interesting knock-on effects for digital assets," Aboualfa said. "If gold ETFs fail to prove 100% holdings, they could begin trading at a discount, potentially triggering a global liquidity drain." Aboualfa said in such a scenario, gold outflows may translate into bitcoin inflows at reduced prices.

"The new administration’s push to audit gold reserves highlights a broader demand for transparency — something digital assets can provide," Aboualfa said. "It is no surprise, then, that momentum behind the concept of a bitcoin strategic reserve is growing."

However, RedStone COO Marcin Kazmierczak said he wouldn’t go as far as saying all this potential net-new capital will directly flow into digital assets, as these asset classes still have a different historical risk profile that most traditional institutions focus on. He nevertheless told The Block that "it definitely supports bitcoin’s narrative as a digital store of value, and some form of discount is quite plausible."

In terms of a proposed strategic bitcoin reserve, Aboualfa noted that — although the U.S. Treasury’s gold-buying operations are minimal and a radical shift in their approach to bitcoin seems unlikely — there are still practical first steps that could be taken to implement an SBR. "Even if the U.S. Treasury stops selling seized bitcoin in cases where there are no identifiable victims to compensate, we would see the beginnings of a bitcoin strategic reserve built from already confiscated assets," he said.

Aboualfa pointed out how recent concerns over the available supply of gold began to surface as increasing volumes of the precious metal moved from London to the U.S. amid speculation that President Donald Trump may reprice the country’s gold holdings to market value.

According to The Times, recent discussions have emerged regarding the potential revaluation of the United States' gold reserves to reflect current market prices. Currently, these reserves are valued at an outdated price of $42.22 per ounce, a figure established during the Bretton Woods era. With gold prices now approaching $3,000 per ounce, adjusting the valuation could theoretically increase the Treasury's reserves from approximately $11 billion to over $750 billion.

Aboualfa added that amid reports of U.S. banks shifting gold bars from London to New York, counterparty risk has now grown exponentially, "with clearing banks scrambling to borrow more gold but struggling to find supply."

"With deliveries facing massive delays, fears are mounting that a price dislocation could emerge between spot markets and ETFs holding 'unallocated' gold on their books," Aboualfa said.

He added that while a full-blown gold supply squeeze has yet to materialize, markets are already pricing in the possibility that it could happen. "If such a scenario unfolds, global liquidity could face significant disruptions — after all, the paper gold market is 133 times the size of the physical supply," Aboualfa said. "This could also create an intriguing, albeit volatile, situation for bitcoin."

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。