Bitcoin's transparency shines amid Fort Knox audit calls

The cryptocurrency community is reigniting discussions around Bitcoin's (CRYPTO:BTC) merits as a transparent and verifiable asset, prompted by calls for an audit of the U.S. gold reserves at Fort Knox.

Senator Rand Paul has urged Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to verify the 147.3 million ounces of gold held by the U.S. Treasury.

This proposal highlights the long-standing lack of external audits on Fort Knox, which hasn't been thoroughly checked since 1974, primarily due to national security concerns.

Bitcoin advocates argue that its decentralised nature offers a solution to these transparency issues.

Senator Cynthia Lummis, a proponent of Bitcoin, stated that "Bitcoin fixes this," emphasising that Bitcoin reserves can be audited at any time using basic computer systems.

Unlike physical gold, which necessitates external audits and relies on trust in auditors, Bitcoin allows anyone to independently verify ownership, supply, and transactions via the blockchain.

"With gold, you have to trust the auditor. With Bitcoin, anyone can be the auditor," Riot's research director Pierre Rochard noted.

Moreover, gold faces concerns regarding counterfeiting.

In 2019, the CEO of Swiss refinery Valcambi acknowledged the growing sophistication of gold forgeries.

Bitcoin, conversely, boasts a fixed supply of 21 million coins and cannot be counterfeited, offering a secure and verifiable store of value.

"Bitcoin is the most perfect hard currency humanity has ever known. Holding Bitcoin is a declaration of liberation from tyranny and government intervention, achieving individual sovereignty," Bitcoin advocate Max Kaiser wrote in 2018.

At the time of reporting, the Bitcoin (BTC) price was $96,225.36.