SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Friday clarified that the market regulator does not intend to regulate “digital gold” or “e-gold” products as these do not fall under its purview.
Speaking on the sidelines of the National Conclave on REITs and InvITs-2025, Pandey said regulated gold-related investments can be made through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offered by mutual funds or other tradable gold securities.
The clarification came days after the digital gold industry urged the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to subject digital gold platforms to formal regulation.
Earlier this month, SEBI had warned investors against investing in digital or e-gold products as such instruments fell outside the regulatory framework and pose significant risks.
The cautionary statement came after SEBI found that some online platforms were promoting “digital gold” or “e-gold” products as an easy alternative to investing in physical gold.
“In this context, it is noted that such digital gold products are different from SEBI regulated gold products as they are neither reported as securities nor regulated as commodity derivatives. They operate completely outside the purview of SEBI,” the regulator had said.
“Such digital gold products may pose significant risks to investors and expose investors to counterparty and operational risks,” it added.
SEBI had further clarified that investor protection mechanisms applicable to regulated securities will not extend to such unregulated digital gold systems. The regulator had said that investors can gain exposure to gold through SEBI-regulated instruments such as gold ETFs offered by mutual funds, exchange-traded commodity derivative contracts and electronic gold receipts tradeable on exchanges.
Further, investments in these SEBI-regulated gold products can be made through registered intermediaries and are subject to the regulatory framework prescribed by the regulator, it said.
Published on November 21, 2025