Lately, the hypothesis has been circulating that the USA might choose to sell gold to buy Bitcoin. Although this idea is not yet gaining much support, it seems interesting and plausible, at least in theory.
US gold could be used to buy Bitcoin
The USA turn out to be the single country in the world with the largest gold reserves.
Calculated in tons of gold, the USA holds more than 8,000, which is much more than double the second country in this special ranking, which is Germany holding 3,300.
Italy is third, ahead of France and Russia, while China is only sixth with 2,200. In seventh position is Switzerland.
The 8,133 tons of gold held by the USA as of December 31, 2024 had a value exceeding 500 billion dollars, and since then this value has risen further.
The price of gold is at an all-time high, also because during this 2025 it has risen from $2,600 per ounce to more than $3,300, against a previous historical maximum that did not exceed $2,800. Just consider that until 2023 it had rarely exceeded $2,000 per ounce.
In the last two years, gold has risen by 64%, an exceptional performance for a low-volatility asset.
USA: the comparison between gold reserves and Bitcoin
Trump has established a national strategic reserve in Bitcoin for the USA.
Currently, in that reserve, only the BTC confiscated by the Department of Justice through judicial seizures will be inserted.
In the past, those BTC were sold at auction, whereas now they will be held in the portfolio as a strategic reserve.
The American Department of Justice holds approximately 198,000 BTC, whose value exceeds 16.5 billion dollars.
It is not certain that all these BTC will be collected: a part may have to be returned to the legitimate owners.
Therefore, the USA reserves in BTC are far lower than those in gold.
The hypothesis for the strategic reserves in Bitcoin
In light of this, the hypothesis has been put forward that the USA might sell part of their gold to purchase BTC to be allocated to the strategic reserve.
It is not an official hypothesis, but an idea supported by members of the Bitcoin Policy Institute such as Matthew Pines, Zack Shapiro, and Zack Cohen.
A reserve of only 200,000 BTC seems insignificant for a country like the USA, especially considering that Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) holds over 500,000, and Tether more than 100,000.
The original idea of the Trump administration was to purchase 200,000 BTC per year for 4 years to reach one million.
But the opposition to the use of public funds has shelved the plan. Selling part of the gold could offer a solution.
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The feasibility of the advanced hypothesis
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Technically, the thing is possible. Politically and in the media, it is very difficult.
Selling even just 3% of the USA’s gold could allow for doubling the reserves in BTC, but public opinion might strongly oppose.
Trump’s approval is declining, and such an unpopular decision could damage him politically.
Zack Shapiro hypothesizes that a massive purchase by the USA would trigger a “global seismic shock” in the Bitcoin market.
Matthew Pines adds that monetizing gold to purchase BTC would give the USA a strategic advantage.
But at the moment, Trump is focused on other priorities, and this hypothesis remains just an academic speculation.
However, in the future things could change.