US gold reserves top $1 trillion in market value for first time

The United States’ gold reserves have surpassed a market valuation of $1 trillion for the first time, driven by a powerful rally in global gold prices, Bloomberg reported.

This milestone gives the U.S. the world’s largest valuation of gold holdings, though it far exceeds the official book value still listed on government financial statements.

Gold prices recently climbed above $3,824.50 per ounce, marking a 45% increase so far this year.

Despite the surge, the U.S. Treasury continues to record its gold reserves at only $11 billion, a value set by Congress in 1973, based on a fixed price of $42.22 per ounce.

The U.S. holds about 261.5 million ounces of gold, stored in secure facilities at Fort Knox, West Point, Denver, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Unlike many nations whose central banks hold gold as part of monetary reserves, the U.S. government directly owns its gold holdings. The Federal Reserve holds certificates representing these reserves and credits the government with an equivalent dollar amount.

If the reserves were valued at current market prices, their total worth would inject nearly $990 billion into the Treasury—enough to cover almost half of the current U.S. budget deficit, which stood at $1.97 trillion through August of the current fiscal year.

That deficit is among the highest in U.S. history, exceeded only during 2020 and 2021, when pandemic-related spending surged.