Digital gold sales surge to record high of Rs 4,000 crore in January

The sale of digital gold through payment apps such as Paytm, PhonePe, Jar, Amazon Pay, Google Pay and Tanishq has been steadily rising.

• Digital gold purchases via UPI hit a record Rs 3,926 crore in January 2025
• Sales dipped in November after SEBI warned digital gold is unregulated
• Digital gold allows fractional ownership but includes GST and platform fees.

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Record-breaking prices didn’t deter customers from buying digital gold, with purchases touching a new high in January, as markets remained volatile amid geopolitical tensions, data available with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) shows.

In January, the digital gold purchases through UPI surged to a record high of Rs 3,926 crore and 219 million transactions. Over 90 percent of all digital gold was purchased through NPCI-operated UPI, the country's most popular digital payment method.

The digital gold sales through UPI went up from Rs 762 crore in January 2025 to Rs 2,290 crore in October 2025. After market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) cautioned investors, stating that digital gold is unregulated, the sales dipped in November. The sales for November stood at around Rs 1,200 crore and around 120 million transactions.

Global uncertainties and market volatility saw demand for gold going up in December and the digital gold sales again rose to 180 million transactions worth Rs 2,100 crore.

Rising popularity

The sale of digital gold through payment apps such as Paytm, PhonePe, Jar, Amazon Pay, Google Pay and Tanishq has been steadily rising.

"Gold has always been one of the most trusted and time-tested savings instruments for Indian households," said Jar co-founder Nishchay AG.

"Our conviction in it has only deepened but with gold at historic highs and silver seeing sharp volatility, I want to share a thought that the most seasoned investors have always stood by. Save for the long term and do not chase short-term opportunities. The discipline of saving consistently matters far more than timing any single purchase," he added.

The rise in gold price and its role as a safe haven, the ease of purchase and accessibility and more importantly, the fractional ownership drove the customers' interest in digital gold. Customers can buy gold from Re 1 to around Rs 2 lakh a day.

Regulatory uncertainty

Late last year, several social media influencers warned customers against buying gold, citing that if the platforms selling digital gold shut down their operations, customers will find it difficult to withdraw their money/gold.

Who holds the gold for customers

Most fintech platforms sell digital gold as a savings or investment product. The gold value is tokenised by companies like MMTC-PAMP or SafeGold. Customers can sell the gold whenever they want.

Investing in digital gold entails GST, storage cost and platform fees. Another option to purchase digital gold is through Gold ETFs, which are mutual funds that invest in gold and offer the same fractional ownership with fewer charges, apart from being regulated by SEBI.

Customers need to open a demat account to invest in Gold ETFs. This is akin to investing in the stock markets, hence a large majority of the users find it convenient to purchase digital gold over ETFs.