Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has made a soft jab at gold advocate Peter Schiff about the verifiability of the asset.
Binance founder Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao has come at popular Bitcoin (BTC) critic Peter Schiff with a strong argument against gold. In a November 8 post on X, the crypto pioneer stated plainly that the traditional metal asset is “difficult to verify.” His statement comes as questions arose on X about the stalled 2025 Fort Knox audit push.
What Happened to the Fort Knox Gold Audit?
There appear to be discussions regarding the verifiability of gold reserves in comparison to the transparency of digital assets like Bitcoin. An American X user pointed out the lack of progress on auditing the United States’ gold reserves at Fort Knox.
Precisely, he asked, “What ever happened to the audit at Fort Knox?” and to this, CZ responded, “Gold is difficult to verify.”
He tagged Peter Schiff to this post, suggesting a possible jab. Schiff is a well-known gold advocate and economist who seizes every opportunity to slam the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Then, on one hand, is CZ, who believes that Bitcoin could surpass gold in the future.
Gold is difficult to verify, @PeterSchiff 😆
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) November 8, 2025
The US Treasury’s gold reserves reportedly total 261.5 million troy ounces, with 147.3 million ounces stored at Fort Knox. Some sources claim that the last time this reserve saw a comprehensive audit was way back in 1953, about 72 years ago. There have been periodic calls for transparency, but until this day, no full audits have been made.
Tokenized Gold is Not Physical Gold
CZ’s jab is likely aimed at pointing out gold’s lack of verifiability as a weakness compared to crypto.
As an asset based on blockchain technology, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies promote transparency by offering a record of all transactions.
The gold-Bitcoin rivalry is extending significantly within the financial sector. In October, Schiff announced his plan to enter the Real-world Assets (RWAs) tokenization space by launching a tokenized gold product. Through this product, users can buy and transfer gold digitally. CZ quickly chipped in, citing that tokenized gold is not the same as having physical gold on-chain.
The Binance founder cautioned investors about the limitations of tokenized gold, noting that it relies on trust in a third party to deliver the actual asset. Interestingly, this could happen several decades later, even amid management changes or geopolitical disruptions.
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