SEBI warns against digital gold schemes, cites lack of safeguards and oversight

Tue Nov 25 2025

SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey clarified that the regulator has no plans to oversee digital gold or e-gold products, as they fall outside SEBI's jurisdiction. Speaking at the National Conclave on REITs and InvITs-2025, he said investors seeking gold exposure should use SEBI-regulated options like Gold ETFs, exchange-traded commodity derivatives and Electronic Gold Receipts, all of which offer safeguards absent in digital gold schemes. His remarks follow recent appeals from digital gold platforms requesting formal regulation and SEBI's advisory warning investors against such products. The regulator stressed that digital gold is neither a security nor a commodity derivative, leaving buyers exposed to significant operational and counterparty risks.

SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey stated earlier this week that the markets regulator was not considering regulating digital gold or e-gold products, emphasising that such offerings do not fall within the organisation's jurisdiction. He made the clarification while interacting with reporters on the sidelines of the National Conclave on REITs and InvITs-2025.

Pandey explained that investors wishing to gain exposure to gold could rely on SEBI-regulated instruments, including exchange-traded funds issued by mutual funds and other tradable gold-linked securities. These avenues, he said, remain within the established regulatory framework and provide investor safeguards that digital gold platforms do not.

His remarks followed efforts by the digital gold industry in the past week, when several platforms requested the Securities and Exchange Board of India to introduce formal oversight for digital gold products. The appeal came shortly after SEBI had issued a cautionary advisory earlier this month warning investors against putting money into digital or e-gold instruments, highlighting that these schemes operate outside its regulatory framework and pose substantial risks.

SEBI had previously noted that certain online platforms were actively promoting digital gold as a convenient alternative to buying physical gold. The regulator pointed out in its advisory that these digital gold offerings were fundamentally different from SEBI-regulated gold products, as they were neither categorised as securities nor governed as commodity derivatives. Therefore, they remained completely outside SEBI's purview.

The regulator also warned that these unregulated products could expose investors to operational and counterparty risks, with no investor protection mechanisms available. It reiterated that structured exposure to gold could be achieved through Gold ETFs offered by mutual funds, exchange-traded commodity derivative contracts, and Electronic Gold Receipts available for trading on stock exchanges. Such investments, it added, must be undertaken through registered intermediaries and are subject to SEBI's prescribed regulatory standards.

Source: https://propnewstime.com/