Judy Shelton is now a Senior Advisor to the US Treasury, after her appointment this week by Scott Bessent.
If you’re unfamiliar, Shelton was a previous Trump pick for the Federal Reserve back in his first administration.
The Senate blocked her appointment to the Fed, due to what CNBC called “unusual economic policies.”
Those “unusual” ideas?
She’s a fan of the gold standard, which I guess passes for unusual in Washington DC.
In a land of cheaters, the honest man is suspect.
In 2024, Shelton wrote a book titled, “Good as Gold: How to Unleash the Power of Sound Money.”
The summary blurb on Amazon for this book reads: “When the U.S. dollar is backed by gold, America prospers, and so does the rest of the world. In this book, Shelton casts a powerful vision that is as revolutionary as it is time-tested…a vision that shows how the future American dollar can perform as good as gold…”
For further context of what Shelton’s appointment means for the dollar and gold, remember that Bessent talked about “monetizing the asset side of the balance sheet” when he first took office as Treasury Secretary.
There’s not much to monetize on the Treasury’s balance sheet – except for gold.
The concept for sure sounds unusual… Monetization of gold is something that no one within the Fed or Treasury has discussed for decades.
But what does it mean, in practice?
Here’s how it could play out:
The Treasury currently values gold on its balance sheet at $42/oz.
First it would revalue gold at market price, and then it could issue certificates to the Fed, which would credit the Treasury’s cash account, giving the Treasury another ~$1 trillion without issuing new bonds or selling any gold.
Of course, that’s at the current gold price of $4,100/oz.
If gold moves higher – or if the Treasury values its gold higher, then it means the Treasury has even more cash on hand.
Shelton literally wrote the book on how this kind of operation could play out.
Officially, Bessent brought Shelton on board to help with currency policy especially as it relates to China.
At first blush, that task might not seem to have much to do with gold or monetization – but consider what’s going on in China right now.
China is still buying record amounts of gold, using this latest sustained dip in gold prices to continue its buying spree – adding 23 tonnes of gold in September 2026 alone:
China is also building its own international gold exchange in Shanghai.
Shanghai gold is now regularly selling for higher prices than in western exchanges, leading gold analysts at GoldFix to believe that China is now setting the gold price.
The goal for China is simple: control its gold and manage its currency.
Shelton seems ideally suited to provide insights into what China is doing and how the US should respond or get in front of Chinese policy.
But just consider the task for Shelton and Bessent: even hinting at monetizing gold would be sure to send gold moonward.
If and when it happens, it might catch us all by surprise.
Best,
Garrett Goggin, CFA, CMT
Lead Analyst and Founder, Golden Portfolio
