Is Elon Musk Auditing Fort Knox’s Gold Reserve? What We Know.

Social media users, including a Republican lawmaker, have encouraged Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to audit Fort Knox, the military installation that houses about half of the country’s gold reserves.

As the head of DOGE, a newly formed advisory task force, Musk has been leading a campaign to eliminate perceived waste from government spending while also reviewing other aspects of the federal budget.

If a review is conducted, any discrepancy between the reserves in Fort Knox and the figures that have been reported could send shock waves through global gold markets.

A complete review of the gold reserves held at Fort Knox, famously one of the most secure facilities in the world, has not been conducted since the 1950s, according to the Sound Money Defense League, a public advocacy organization focused on state and federal monetary legislation. The organization added that the government last conducted a partial audit in 1974.

In 2017, Steven Mnuchin and Mitch McConnell—then the Treasury secretary and Senate majority leader, respectively—received a tour of the facility, though this was not an official inspection.

According to the U.S. Mint, Fort Knox contains about 147.3 million troy ounces of gold, or 4,581 tons, equivalent to half of the Treasury’s total stored gold. With gold valued at just under $2,900 per troy ounce, according to the foreign exchange service Xe, the gold in Fort Knox could be worth up to $426.3 billion.

Source: NEWSWEEK