A new gold rush: States are hoarding bars and promoting gold-backed debit cards

More and more states are stockpiling gold bars or encouraging their residents to utilize gold-backed debit cards to hedge against inflation.

Several states, including Western states with luxurious mining histories, have accumulated gold reserves as part of their general state savings. And other states want to follow Texas and Florida’s lead and pass so-called transactional gold laws that would invite consumers to save and spend gold through their own accounts.

Critics question the necessity of these bills and some see them as potentially market-disrupting measures that could ultimately create tax havens for the luxurious. But proponents say they can assist make gold available to the masses and provide everyday consumers with an crucial safeguard against creeping inflation, as is the case with gold generally increased enhance in value over time.

“Inflation is the carbon monoxide you can’t see, taste or smell,” said Georgia state Sen. Marty Harbin, a Republican who promoted bipartisanship legislation This year would have made gold and silver legal tender and created an electronic payment system.

The state Senate approved the bill, but it failed to advance past a House committee. Harbin said he expects to reintroduce it in the next session.

Oklahoma lawmakers are considering something similar measure This would create an electronic payment system backed by gold. Lawmakers in several states, including Arizona, Iowa and Mississippi, have considered such legislation this year.

After vetoing a similar bill last year, Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox allowed a gold measure to become law this year without his signature. He said lawmakers appear intent on passing the bill despite his concerns.

“Many fear this will lead to unwanted government interference in the gold market.” he wrote in a statement behind schedule last month.

As part of the gold transactions legislation, advocates are pushing for tax exemptions for precious metals, namely gold and silver. While interest on savings accounts or income from stock investments may be subject to state and federal taxes, gold advocates say precious metals should be tax-free because of their history as legal tender.

Matthew Gardner, senior fellow at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said there is no reason why gold should be taxed differently than other investment holdings. Governments generally provide tax breaks on capital gains in the hope of spurring activity that stimulates the economy or creates jobs. But Gardner said holding gold or other collectibles does nothing of the sort.

“As an economic activity, this has virtually no social benefit whatsoever,” Gardner said. “You’re essentially trading a Pokémon card.”

If rising costs are the primary concern, Gardner said, lawmakers should tackle inflation head on.

“Most people don’t have the luxury of investing in gold,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine a way to inflation-proof people’s lives that is less accessible to most Americans than gold.”

Gold for the masses

The more Georgia Democratic State Senator Sonya Halpern learned about transactional gold systems, the more attractive the idea became. While anyone can buy, own or sell gold items, she said new technology platforms allow consumers to own smaller shares of gold and spend them simply by swiping a card.

“It really gives you instant liquidity of your gold holdings,” she said.

Halpern, a co-sponsor of the Harbin legislation, said she hopes gold can protect Georgians from the dollar’s dwindling purchasing power. However, she said she doesn’t see it as a replacement for customary saving and spending methods.

“I personally think that most people would see this as a complement to what they’ve already done with their savings,” she said, “and so it’s just part of their overall ability to save and protect the dollars they’re working so hard to earn.”

In Georgia, advocates cited Glittera British company that has pushed legislation in several states in recent years. The company makes gold accessible to consumers by issuing prepaid debit cards backed by physical holdings in Swiss vaults.

Customers utilize cash to fund their accounts in advance, and Glint says You then own the physical gold in your account. When they utilize their Glint card to make a purchase, the corresponding amount of gold is sold on their behalf and converted into US dollars or another currency, which goes to the merchant.

Harbin, the Republican sponsor in Georgia, held up his Glint card and described how simple it was to buy lunch at Chick-fil-A.

“I saw that the proof of concept was there,” he told Stateline.

The Sound Money Defense League, a group that advocates for the restoration of gold and silver as American currency, has fought Harbin’s proposal and similar measures.

Jp Cortez, the group’s executive director, said the existing debit card system is actually evidence that the legislation is unnecessary.

“It doesn’t enable anything that isn’t already legal,” said Cortez, whose organization owns Money Metals Exchange, an online precious metals broker. “Furthermore, I honestly think the way these invoices are written is self-serving or written by self-serving salespeople.”

Aside from encouraging certain businesses, Cortez said the laws proposed in several states would create a new government program that would deter many gold owners who tend to be wary of the government. He said there is also little demand to issue gold because owners often view it as a long-term asset that increases in value over time.

“The mentality of a gold owner is not one that says, ‘I want more government ownership of my gold,'” Cortez said.

Gold prices skyrocketed in 2025. Silver surpassed him, and it wasn’t nearly as high.

In an email to Stateline, Glint COO Jason Ollivier said no legislation would be needed for consumers to utilize the platform, which has been operating in the United States for more than six years. But new state laws are helping legitimize and scale the technology, he said.

“These laws aim to resolve tensions, particularly around legal tender status and regulatory clarity, and make gold more usable for everyday transactions by a broader population,” Ollivier wrote.

Inflation is driving the current wave of interest from lawmakers, he said. And products like Glint can give consumers access to miniature amounts of gold, which currently trades for nearly $5,000 an ounce.

“Transactional gold allows consumers to accumulate small amounts over time, helping to preserve purchasing power,” Ollivier wrote. “Gold is a hedge and store of value, not a high-yield investment; its role is stability, not speculation.”

States mine gold

In Utah, the enacted law This year, without the governor’s signature, the state must create a precious metals-backed electronic payment system to pay state vendors.

Utah State Treasurer Marlo Oaks said the system is voluntary for government contractors, but officials hope it will assist expand the emerging gold market.

“The idea, I think, is that when the state is involved in something like this, it can give legitimacy to the idea,” he said. “And hopefully we can adequately hedge things like that and move the market forward in a positive and helpful way.”

Oaks also said he hopes the state’s involvement will assist challenge federal tax policy.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon effectively ended the gold standard, which pegged the value of the U.S. dollar to physical gold. After that, the IRS began treating gold holdings like other collectibles and being subject to income tax when sold.

“That’s an important element because if you suddenly start using (gold) the way it was used before, we have to think differently about how we treat taxes,” Oaks said.

He led one Working group 2024 from Utah officials studying how precious metals could “strengthen long-term financial stability.” In addition to inflation, the group examined how exploding federal debt could eat up more tax revenue and threaten state coffers.

A 2024 law allowed the treasurer to invest up to 10% of the state’s then-reserve funds in gold. Oaks said Utah currently has about $1.4 billion in reserves, including about $178 million worth of gold stored in a privately operated vault.

It is one of several countries that hoard gold. Established by law in 2015, the Texas Bullion Depository is the first state-managed bullion depository in the country, according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. A private company is now storing in Wyoming state gold worth millions of dollars after a law was passed last year.

Chris Colson, who researches payments trends at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, said it’s too early to tell how sustainable the current gold rush will be. He noted that the new gold transaction laws do not require customers or traders to utilize gold. However, many details regarding taxes, fees and oversight still need to be clarified, he said.

“With any good innovation, you don’t necessarily want to hold onto it at the beginning because then nothing happens, right?” he said. “So I think as people use it and things happen — positive and negative — it will intensify a little bit.”

He compares the rise of gold-backed payment systems to that of stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency pegged to existing currencies such as the US dollar. This form of payment is still relatively sporadic, but has become more crucial with its introduction by major credit card companies.

“I would imagine this will follow a similar path, meaning someone will make it available and then the market will dictate who and how it will be used,” he said. “I think we’re just at the beginning of this.”

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org.