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Digital Gold, described by PhonePe CEO and co-founder Sameer Nigam as "physical gold sold digitally", is rapidly emerging as a preferred savings instrument for millions of Indians.
In a post on X, Nigam emphasised that Digital Gold is not a cryptocurrency or speculative token but actual, high-purity physical gold stored securely in bank-grade vaults and redeemable on demand. Unlike traditional online jewellery purchases from brands such as Tanishq or CaratLane, where gold is shipped to the buyer immediately, Digital Gold purchased from platforms like MMTC-PAMP or SafeGold is held in secure vaults until customers request delivery. "Every purchase comes with a formal tax invoice and a gold ownership certificate, mirroring the experience of buying gold in a physical store." According to Nigam, leading Digital Gold providers offer 99.9% or 99.5% purity gold comparable to Gold ETFs and undergo regular independent audits to ensure that every digital purchase is backed 1:1 by physical gold. With the sector still largely unregulated, he notes that the recent move by industry players to establish a self-regulatory organisation (SRO) is a crucial step towards strengthening audits, enforcing quality standards, and improving consumer protection. Nigam further highlighted that the Digital Gold attracts a 3% GST at purchase, the same as physical gold bought from jewellers. "Gold ETFs, by contrast, don't incur GST since they cannot be redeemed for physical gold." Nigam attributes the surge in adoption to several factors, including affordability and flexibility. Digital Gold enables fractional buying, allowing consumers to purchase gold starting from as little as Rs 1, with typical order values ranging between Rs 1,000 and Rs 3,000, amounts insufficient to buy even 0.1 grams of physical gold offline. Daily gold-saving plans, starting at Rs 10 per day, have quickly become the category's most popular product, helping Indians cultivate a daily savings habit. Other drivers include secure vault storage, which removes the need for home safekeeping, and instant online liquidity, enabling users to sell their gold anytime without visiting a jewellery store. As Digital Gold adoption continues to grow across the country, Nigam says stronger governance and standardised best practices will be essential to maintaining trust in the fast-evolving category. (ANI)
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