Checklist Before Buying Digital Gold in 2022

Over the years, if something has changed in India’s gold buying and selling market, it is the form in which gold is bought. There is no change in the craze for the yellow metal. Earlier, people used to buy gold jewelry or gold in the form of coins, biscuits, bricks, bars, or bullions. While buying gold jewelry is primarily for self-use or gifting on festivals, marriages, or other special occasions, the gold is bought for investment purposes only. In the last few years, some new ways of making investments in gold have come into existence. One of the popular methods of purchasing gold is buying digital gold.

What is Digital Gold?

Digital gold refers to the online purchase of virtual gold, where a person invests in gold but does not take its physical delivery. The gold is held in the virtual form. It is a convenient and simple way to invest in gold without blocking too much money. Due to these reasons,?digital gold?is fast becoming a preferred alternative to buying gold in physical form, which does not require any bank locker to store it safely.?

For those who are planning to invest in digital gold in 2022, there are some factors that potential investors must consider before putting their hard-earned money into it. This is especially very helpful for first-time investors. We advise readers to read through the entire blog to get a complete understanding of the buying process and the factors to be considered while buying digital gold.

Where Can You Buy Digital Gold?

There are several trading platforms and mobile apps when it comes to sources from where you can buy digital gold. However, due to the low entry barrier in the industry, many unreliable players are also operating in the market. Therefore, we recommend you perform due diligence and deal with a credible seller in the market.?

One should choose a secure platform like OroPocket, with enough industry experience, technological know-how, and customer-friendly policies.

Your Checklist Before Buying Digital Gold

To make your task easy, we have put together a comprehensive checklist of factors you should consider before deciding to buy digital gold in 2022.

1. Service Provider

The service provider dealing in digital gold must be reputed and backed by promoters having proper background and experience in the market.

2. Vaulting Location of Gold

Some service providers hold your gold in an overseas location. So, when you buy digital gold through them, you pay and they buy gold in dollars in the overseas location. But, when you want to sell it or get physical delivery, they close the gold overseas, buy gold from a local partner and deliver it to you. In such a case, if the risk management is not managed properly, there are risks of defaults in delivery.

3. Market Intermediaries

Agencies like payment wallets or scheduled commercial banks act as intermediaries between you and the service provider. These third-party entities regulated by the?RBI?also perform their due diligence before tying up with a service provider, thus adding an added security layer. Hence, it is better to go through market intermediaries unless the service provider is trusted.

4. Stamp of Trust

The service provider should assure the investors that their investment has been made and an equivalent amount of physical gold is present in the vault. The service provider should have an independent?SEBI-registered trustee?to regularly audit and confirm the gold holding.

5. Storage

One must perform due diligence to check which exigencies are covered under the insurance. Some vaulting companies only provide insurance against theft and not under any natural calamity. Also, their only concern is to store the gold safely. In case the gold turns out to be just gold-coated tungsten bars as against original fine bullion, they do not have a system to check the purity of gold.?

6. Delivery

If the investor wants his digital gold to be converted into physical gold, the service provider must inform the investor upfront about delivery’s minimum grammage and cost. They should also have a system to deliver the gold safely to the investor.

7. Pricing

Digital gold may come with a purity of 995, 999, or 9999. This is the main factor determining the price of digital gold. In addition, having a captive refining unit, bullion stock in their own vaults, or an active trading desk with access to global markets helps lower the cost of hedging. All these have an impact on the overall?price of digital gold.

8. Buy-Sell Price

There is always a difference in gold’s buying and selling price. This difference is always there and with all service providers. This difference may change when you decide to sell your digital gold. Hence, you should be careful of this price difference.

9. Responsible Sourcing

You would definitely not want your investment going into funding some illegal business or anti-social activity. So, while deciding your service provider, check for their declaration that their company is certified for following the OECD’s responsible sourcing guidelines. This would mean that you have invested in refineries approved by responsible regulatory bodies.

10. Process of Vaulting Gold

How can the service provider and vaulting agencies protect the customers from fraud in gold quality? One way is to source?gold bars?that carry a serial number on each bar. The service provider should have a mechanism to verify the serial number on the bar with its origin. The easiest way is to source from reliable refineries certified for LBMA or Dubai Good Delivery. For Indian refineries, the gold bars sourced should be India Good Delivery (IGD), as the Bureau of Indian Standards tracks these bars.

11. Fungibility of the Gold

The biggest advantage of digital gold is the option of redeeming it 24/7. The feature of getting it exchanged for an equal amount of gold jewelry at an impaneled store is one of the Value Added Features customers look for. However, one must be aware of applicable taxes while doing so.

How to Buy and Sell Digital Gold with OroPocket?

Buying digital gold with OroPocket is very simple. The complete process is given below:

• Download the?OroPocket mobile app. Create an account on the app, enter your details and upload your KYC documents. As soon as the KYC is verified, you are good to go.?
• Decide the amount of digital gold to be bought. One can buy digital gold of a certain amount of money or a certain weight at the prevailing market price.
• Select the preferred online payment option like UPI, debit card, credit card, net banking, among others.
• The company buys an equal amount of physical gold and stores it safely and insured in secured digital vaults as soon as the payment is made.

Benefits of Buying Digital Gold from OroPocket

OroPocket offers 100% asset-backed banking without any hidden charges. Still, looking for one reason to consider OroPocket? There are plenty. Given below are some reasons why you should consider OroPocket for investing your hard-earned money:

• OroPocket encourages small investments as well. So, one can become an investor in digital gold invest with an amount as low as Rs 1. This helps the small investors realize their dream of investing in gold.
• We ensure complete transparency in all processes. All transactions are recorded on the Blockchain. Investors can easily verify the integrity of their investment in an independent manner.
• OroPocket digital vaults for your physical assets’ safe-keeping are located in the UK, Switzerland, Singapore, and India. All the vaults are daily audited by third parties to ensure a 1:1 physical backing of the assets.?
• The investments are made in your name only. The assets belong to you and not the company. This means that your assets are safe even if the company goes under.
• OroPocket is open 24/7 for its customers. Whenever you have any queries, you can create a support ticket, drop an email, or still better have a chat with us.
• There are no hidden charges during transactions with OroPocket. It charges a flat fee of 0.25% for buying or selling digital gold on its platform. Unlike traditional banks, there is no storage fee or insurance fee. This makes OroPocket a pocket-friendly option.?
• With OroPocket, one can invest in multiple asset categories and diversify their portfolio. Customers can invest in digital gold, silver, and a lot more to grow their wealth and get 100% liquidity at the same time.?

Conclusion

For Indians, the love for gold is eternal. Apart from the emotional value, gold is one of the most secured investment options. Digital gold is a good investment idea, but looking at potential risks, it is advisable to do a sanity check on the service provider and their policies. You may check with your peers about the service provider. This blog gives a detailed checklist of the factors that you should consider.

Digital gold investment with credible and technologically equipped digital platforms, like?OroPocket, is very convenient and offers complete peace of mind. Investors need not worry about purity, making charges, storage, wastage, and liquidity. This makes the entire process safe and hassle-free.?

So, if you are looking for effective investments and a satisfying customer experience, start investing with OroPocket today. Get in touch with our advisors today, and we would be glad to serve you.