As the planning for the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve (SBR) intensifies, a few “budget-neutral” strategies and approaches are gaining the attention of policymakers.
As US President Donald Trump noted, the US government can create Bitcoin holdings, provided that it does so using budget-neutral strategies. One approach that has been thrown around lately is the potential use of gold.
Greg Cipolaro of the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) states that the government can tokenize these assets for transparency. This isn’t the first time the idea of tokenizing gold has been floated—a few personalities in the crypto industry, including Elon Musk himself, have suggested the use of blockchain.
A gold vault. Image: Gemini Imagen
A Growing Movement To Track Gold And Tokenize It On The Blockchain
There’s a growing movement within the Trump administration suggesting tracking the country’s gold reserves using blockchain. Cipolaro, NYDIG’s global head of research, floated the idea of using blockchains to track the country’s gold reserves, particularly its spending. In a statement on March 21st on its website, Cipolaro argued that “blockchains aren’t that smart” since they offer limited information.
NEW: NYDIG, A BITCOIN SUBSIDARY OF ASSET MANAGER STONE RIDGE, SAYS TOKENIZED U.S. GOLD COULD ULTIMATELY BENEFIT $BTC
— The Wolf Of All Streets (@scottmelker) March 24, 2025
He used Bitcoin and its blockchain as an example, which doesn’t know the asset’s price in real time. Cipolaro explained that tokenization or tracking of the reserves (on the blockchain) would help the government track its status, including spending. And this system requires trust and coordination, which is absent in Bitcoin.
Increasing Calls For Gold Reserve Transparency
Cipolaro’s suggestions come amid a growing clamor for increased auditing and transparency in the country’s management of gold reserves. Last month, Republican Rand Paul urged Elon Musk to examine the government’s gold bullion holdings, which are currently held at the Fort Knox. According to the US Mint, the Fort Knox facility manages roughly half of the country’s gold reserves.
BTCUSD trading at $86,830 on the daily chart: TradingView.com
Currently, the Treasury is tasked with auditing and publishing a report on the country’s gold held at Fort Knox and other locations. However, Trump and DOGE administrator Elon Musk are questioning the current auditing scheme, saying the process “isn’t transparent enough.”
What To Expect From The Tokenization Of Gold?
Cipolaro’s report published on NYDIG offered a possible use case and scenario in case gold is tokenized. He used the current reserves as an example, with the Federal Reserves holding over 13 million fine troy ounces of gold. The government, he says, can issue a similar number of tokens, which can be called “USTG.” Each USTG represents one fine troy ounce of gold held in the country’s reserve.
Cipolaro explained that if the Treasury acquires some gold, it can add “some number of USTG tokens” to the circulation, which is held in a wallet. Now, if it sells some of these reserves, the government can “burn” the tokens. He added that it’s also possible to move tokens during a sale. If a sale happens, the physical gold can be transported to the purchasing entity.
Featured image from Gemini Imagen, chart from TradingView
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