US could use gold reserves to buy bitcoin, White House official says

The United States could capitalize on the increased value of its gold to purchase bitcoin as another reserve asset, a White House official has suggested.

Bo Hines, the executive director of the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, stated in a recent interview that using the realized gains on America’s gold reserves represents a “budget-neutral” way of acquiring bitcoin.

The potential buying of bitcoin — widely known as “digital gold” — would align with President Donald Trump’s executive order to establish a strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies. Importantly, it marks the first time that bitcoin is formally recognized as a reserve asset.

It also follows comments made by Trump last month that he would pay a visit to Fort Knox and check on America’s gold reserves.

According to Trading Economics, the US has the largest gold reserves globally by a wide margin at approximately 8,133 tonnes, or nearly 287 million ounces. At the current, near-record prices, these would be valued at more than $860 billion.

In his interview, Hines also referenced the Bitcoin Act of 2025 proposed by Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), which advocates for the US to acquire 1 million bitcoins within five years. This would see the US become a global leader in cryptocurrency, holding 5% of the world’s limited bitcoin supply.