Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said all 147.3 million ounces of gold at Fort Knox and other federal vaults remain accounted for, rejecting years of public doubt. Skeptics counter that no large-scale physical verification has happened since 1974 and are pushing for an independent audit.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent used a Fox News interview to insist the United States still holds every bar it claims, telling viewers the country owns the largest gold pile in the world worth over a trillion dollars at current market value. According to Bitcoin News: "I am happy to say all gold is present and accounted for." He admitted he has never visited Fort Knox himself, saying his staff and the U.S. Treasurer had toured the vault instead.
The numbers behind the claim
The Fort Knox depository in Kentucky holds 147,341,858.382 fine troy ounces of gold, according to Treasury data from June 2026. That stockpile accounts for roughly 59% of the government's total bullion reserves, with more held at West Point, Denver, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The book value tells a stranger story. Federal law still values gold at $42.2222 per fine troy ounce, a rate frozen since 1973, which puts Fort Knox near $6.2 billion on paper. At spot prices around $4,000 to $4,100 per ounce in mid-July 2026, the same metal is worth closer to $600 billion.
Why critics want a physical count
Bessent has pointed to annual internal audits by the Treasury's Office of the Inspector General, but those reviews sample select vault compartments rather than weigh and assay every bar. The last large-scale public verification took place in 1974, when a congressional delegation and journalists toured the site.
That gap has fueled skepticism. With gold trading near record levels, Rep. Thomas Massie introduced the Gold Reserve Transparency Act, which would require a full independent audit within nine months and a repeat every five years. That bill has not advanced.
Source: Bitcoin News
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