Copper says potential Trump scrutiny of US gold reserves could drive bitcoin inflows

President Donald Trump's reported plans to audit Fort Knox's gold reserves could lead to increased scrutiny of gold holdings, potentially driving investors toward bitcoin, Copper Head of Research Fadi Aboualfa told The Block. He noted that if gold ETFs cannot verify full backing, they might trade at a discount, causing a global liquidity drain and prompting reallocations into digital assets.

"A time of increased scrutiny on underlying gold stocks could see interesting knock-on effects for digital assets," Aboualfa said. "If gold ETFs fail to prove 100% holdings, they could begin trading at a discount, potentially triggering a global liquidity drain." Aboualfa said in such a scenario, gold outflows may translate into bitcoin inflows at reduced prices.

"The new administration’s push to audit gold reserves highlights a broader demand for transparency — something digital assets can provide," Aboualfa said. "It is no surprise, then, that momentum behind the concept of a bitcoin strategic reserve is growing."

However, RedStone COO Marcin Kazmierczak said he wouldn’t go as far as saying all this potential net-new capital will directly flow into digital assets, as these asset classes still have a different historical risk profile that most traditional institutions focus on. He nevertheless told The Block that "it definitely supports bitcoin’s narrative as a digital store of value, and some form of discount is quite plausible."

In terms of a proposed strategic bitcoin reserve , Aboualfa noted that — although the U.S. Treasury’s gold-buying operations are minimal and a radical shift in their approach to bitcoin seems unlikely — there are still practical first steps that could be taken to implement an SBR. "Even if the U.S. Treasury stops selling seized bitcoin in cases where there are no identifiable victims to compensate, we would see the beginnings of a bitcoin strategic reserve built from already confiscated assets," he said.