Digital Gold: SEBI to RBI zero in on the digital asset to regulate it

In a big regulatory overhaul reports indicate Digital Gold may be bought under regulatory oversight. The finance ministry, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have voiced concerned over the unchecked growth in such investments without investor protections that apply to regulated securities.

What Is Digital Gold?
It is a virtual method of buying and investing in the yellow metal without having to physically hold the gold. You can buy it online. And, the minimum buy or sell value is one rupee.

How big is the market?
Five years after MMTC’s initial forays, the digital gold market now has dozens of private players. The total number of digital gold accounts across various platforms has already crossed the 120 million mark this year.

What is the security concern?
The oversight authorities want to ensure that the trading is backed by physical commodity and not just a paper trade leading to huge loss of investment for innocent investors. Regulators want to avoid a fiasco caused by Financial Technologies due to over-invoicing without any actual security.

What is the current status?
In August of 2021, the exchanges asked stock brokers to stop selling digital gold.The directive came to the exchanges from the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Subsequently, the exchanges sent a circular to brokers to comply with the guidelines.

Therefore, stock brokers have stopped selling digital gold, while mobile wallets and investment platforms continue to do so.

So how will your digital gold get regulated?
The government may amend the Sebi Act and Securities Contracts Regulation Act to categorize digital gold as a security, two officials with direct knowledge of the matter told The Mint requesting anonymity. This announcement is likely to be made in the upcoming budget.