Overview
- SEBI clarified that popular digital or e-gold offerings are neither notified as securities nor regulated as commodity derivatives, so they operate outside its purview.
- The advisory follows a rise in online platforms and jewellers marketing fractional, app-based gold purchases that can be mistaken for regulated investments.
- SEBI cautioned that such products carry counterparty and operational risks and that no securities-market investor protection mechanisms apply.
- Investors were urged to use regulated avenues such as gold ETFs, exchange-traded commodity derivatives, or Electronic Gold Receipts through SEBI-registered intermediaries and to verify regulatory status before investing.
- The warning comes during heightened retail interest in gold, with reports of strong 2025 inflows into gold ETFs including a World Gold Council tally of $850 million in October and a record year-to-date total of $3.05 billion.