Good times, bad times

For Zerodha, Covid is a ladder

Even with India in lockdown, its largest stock broker is seeing unprecedented volumes. With around 100,000 orders per minute—up almost 3X—and a million concurrent users, its tech chops are being tested like never before

Arundhati Ramanathan, 24 Apr 2020

The unprecedented fall of WTI oil futures on 20 April cost Indian brokers over Rs 330 crores in losses

Still, the volatile stock market has attracted traders who want to make the most of market movements. That means more revenue for Zerodha

Zerodha has seen its highest ever trades, highest ever new accounts opened, highest ever concurrent users. All of this pushes its tech to never-seen-before limits

But this exuberance wont last long for either Zerodha or traders as a recession is round the corner

Nithin Kamath has been stress-eating. “I’ve put on five kilos,” admits Kamath, the CEO and co-founder of Zerodha, India’s largest stockbroker in terms of the sheer number of broking accounts.

It’s not hard to see why he’s so wound up. While the Covid-19 pandemic has brought the world to an unprecedented standstill, it has wreaked havoc on the trading space. On 20 April, for instance, the contract price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil futures for May fell to -$37 a barrel.

AUTHOR

Arundhati Ramanathan

Arundhati is Bengaluru-based. She is interested in how people use money in the digital age and how new economies will take shape based on that interaction. She has spent over 10 years reporting and writing on various subjects. Previous stints were at Mint, Outlook Business and Reuters.

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For Zerodha, Covid is a ladder