Akshaya Tritiya, Dhanteras and digital gold: where Bitcoin fits, and where it does not

On Akshaya Tritiya and Dhanteras, many Indian families buy gold, and in recent years a lot of that buying has moved online as digital gold: small amounts of gold bought through an app, with the physical metal held by a provider. Coverage around Akshaya Tritiya has reported that over 15 million Indians have taken up digital gold. It is worth knowing that in November 2025 SEBI cautioned the public that digital gold products are neither notified as securities nor regulated as commodity derivatives, so they sit outside SEBI's purview.

Bitcoin sometimes gets called digital gold too, but it is not the same thing as the digital gold product in your payments app. It is a separate asset, not backed by any metal, unregulated in India, and much more volatile. This post explains the difference, why I still think the comparison says something true about India, and why no festival day is a reason to buy anything you do not understand.

Why we buy gold on auspicious days

Gold in India is not only an asset. It is a blessing, a gift at weddings, a store of a family's work across generations. Buying a little on Akshaya Tritiya or Dhanteras is as much ritual as finance. Nobody needs a spreadsheet to explain why it matters.

The scale is enormous. A World Gold Council report in 2019 estimated that Indian households may hold up to 25,000 tonnes of gold. That number tells you something about how Indian families think about money: they trust things that are scarce, that cannot be printed, and that they can hold.

Digital gold arrived first

Digital gold took that tradition and put it in a phone. You can buy a gram, or a few hundred rupees' worth, any time, without visiting a jeweller. For a festival purchase that used to mean a trip to the market, that convenience is real.

But convenience changes what you own. With physical gold, you hold the metal. With a digital gold product, you hold a claim on gold held by someone else. That is why SEBI's caution matters. In its November 2025 press release, SEBI said digital gold products are being marketed as an alternative to physical gold, but are neither notified as securities nor regulated as commodity derivatives, and so operate outside its purview. Reports of the release note that SEBI pointed investors to regulated routes such as gold ETFs offered by mutual funds and exchange-traded gold derivatives.

I am not telling you whether to buy digital gold. I am telling you to know what kind of claim you are buying, and who stands behind it, before the festival rush makes the decision for you.

Bitcoin is not digital gold the product

Here is where people get confused. Bitcoin is often called digital gold, and I use the phrase myself. But it is a metaphor, not a product category.

• No metal. Bitcoin is not backed by gold or by anything else. Its value comes entirely from people choosing to use and hold it.
• Fixed supply. There will only ever be 21 million bitcoin, and that limit is set in its software. That scarcity is where the gold comparison comes from.
• No issuer. No company or government issues Bitcoin. It runs on a public network maintained by thousands of computers worldwide.
• Holdable by you. You can hold Bitcoin in your own wallet, with keys only you control, without needing anyone's permission.

So why do I use the phrase at all? Because I think it describes a real fit between Bitcoin and India. India is one of the largest gold markets in the world, and Bitcoin carries some of gold's most valued properties, scarcity above all, into digital form. When I explain why I spent more than a decade building Unocoin here, that is a big part of the answer: I see an obvious marriage between a gold-loving culture and a scarce digital asset. That is my view, not a promise about prices.

Different risks, different rules

If you put gold, digital gold and Bitcoin side by side, the differences matter more than the similarities.

• Volatility. Bitcoin's price can rise or fall sharply, often far more than gold's. A festival purchase can be worth much less within weeks.
• Regulation. Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated in India and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss. Platforms register with FIU-IND under the PMLA for anti-money-laundering purposes; that registration does not protect the price of anything.
• Tax. Bitcoin is a virtual digital asset. Under the Finance Act 2022, profits are taxed at a flat 30% plus 4% cess, 1% TDS applies on sales above the threshold, losses cannot be set off, and every sale goes in Schedule VDA. Gold is taxed under different rules. Check with a CA.
• Gifting. A Bitcoin gift can be taxable for the person receiving it if its value exceeds ₹50,000 in a year and the giver is not a specified relative. Gifts from relatives are exempt. Our page on gifting Bitcoin explains the rule.
• Security. Lose a gold coin and it is gone. Lose a Bitcoin wallet's recovery phrase and that Bitcoin is gone too, with no one to call. Share an OTP and the same can happen.

Questions to ask any digital product before a festival

Festival offers come with bonuses, countdowns and cashback. Before buying anything digital, gold or Bitcoin, I would ask the same five questions. What exactly do I own: the asset, or a claim on it? Who holds it, and what happens if that company shuts? Which regulator, if any, oversees this product? What does it cost me in total, including fees and GST? And how do I get it out, as metal, rupees or Bitcoin in my own wallet? If the app cannot answer clearly, the bonus is not worth it. And if a festival offer for Bitcoin promises extra returns or uses a deadline to rush you, treat that as a reason to close the app, not to open your wallet.

Teaching the family before buying anything

Festivals bring families together, and that makes them a good time for a conversation, not a purchase. If someone in your family is curious about Bitcoin, here is what I would cover at the dinner table before anyone opens an app:

1. What Bitcoin is, and what it is not. Not digital gold the product. Not backed by metal.
2. That its price can fall by half, and what that would mean for the household.
3. How it is taxed when sold, and that losses cannot be set off.
4. The one security rule: never share an OTP, password or recovery phrase with anyone, including someone who says they are support.
5. That anyone promising returns, especially with a festival offer attached, is telling you something nobody can know.

If, after that conversation, someone still wants to start, a small, steady amount is a gentler way to learn than one big festival purchase. But there is no auspicious day for Bitcoin. It is there the day after Dhanteras, and the month after. Waiting until you understand it costs you nothing.

Our Learn page covers the basics in plain language, in English and Hindi. It is a good thing to read together.

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Sources

• Outlook Business: Akshaya Tritiya, 15 million Indians choosing digital gold
• Business Today: World Gold Council estimate of Indian household gold (2019)
• Stable Investor: SEBI cautions on digital gold (November 2025), outside SEBI oversight, regulated alternatives
• Business Standard: SEBI warns against investing in digital gold (November 2025)