A couple of years back, a new team member pointed out that we didn’t have a good strategy for video content, and he was right. In hindsight, it was obvious 😀 We were publishing educational content in text form on Varsity, Z-Connect, etc., but we weren’t focusing on videos. We had become like an incumbent, not adapting to the times.

Since then, we’ve put in significant efforts to publish high-quality video content on all things finance, and slowly but steadily, we’ve become the go-to destination for people to understand finance and markets.

Our video strategy is the same as it always was: share everything we know and publish content that people will genuinely find useful, regardless of whether it helps Zerodha or not, and whether it gets views or not.

But since the world judges a video by views, and we have never done any performance marketing, our numbers over the last approximately 2 years. And this is just on YouTube, doesn’t include Insta, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

Zero1ByZerodha – ~ 6 crore views Zerodha Varsity – ~2.4 crore views Markets by Zerodha – ~1 crore views Zerodha – ~1 crore views

All of this excludes Nikhil’s WTF, which he has been hitting out of the park, along with all the amazing creators in the Zero1 network.

Why mention it today?

Because Zero1 just hit 500k subscribers in less than 2 years, and maybe we should acknowledge that our video strategy, which was lacking, is in place. 😬

So yeah, thanks to Prateek Singh, Swati Harish, Karthik Rangappa, Bhuvan,Sagar Gudekote, and everyone responsible for…

Today saw the first SME IPO that disallowed retail investors (bids less than ₹2 lakhs) from participating.

In 2024, SEBI proposed new SME IPO rules through a consultation paper. The changes were finally incorporated into the Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements (ICDR) regulations in March 2025.

Let’s break down what has changed.

What’s New?

1. SEBI has proposed increasing the minimum application size for SME IPOs from ₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakh. This change aims to limit participation by smaller investors and attract only those with higher risk tolerance. Unlike mainboard IPOs that have a retail category with lower minimum investments, SME IPOs have always maintained higher entry barriers to ensure participation by serious, committed investors. The increased threshold reinforces this approach by further filtering out casual retail participation.

2. Lottery for HNI Allotment: For book-built SME IPOs, the Non-Institutional Investor (NII) category, which includes HNIs, now uses a “draw of lots” instead of the old proportionate allotment. This change was already in place in mainboard IPOs, and SME HNI bids were getting differential treatment. This is bound to reduce bids in the SME space.

Why is today’s SME IPO launch the first to exclude retail participation entirely?

SEBI announced new SME IPO rules in March 2025. There have been about 30 SME IPOs since then.

However, since the new rules were only valid for companies who filed their IPO prospectus with the exchange after March 2025, anyone who went public after March 2025 but had filed their prospectus earlier could still invite retail participation. This can get confusing for investors over the next few weeks, since a prospectus filed stays valid for a year.

Although the future path is set, and over time, all SME IPOs will have a minimum investment above Rs. 2 lakhs, for now, some can have a minimum of Rs. 1 lakh, whereas others will follow the new rule. The exchanges may issue a roadmap to help clarify this.

Here is the ICDR amendment for reference – link.

We’ve added more equity and debt indices for comparison on the Portfolio Performance Curve on Console.

Fun fact: This screenshot is the actual portfolio performance of a colleague. He has 2100 stocks (~Rs 21lks) in his portfolio, and with great effort and smarts, he’s managed to underperform a government bond index. 😬

We just revamped the Kite MarketWatch and made it much cooler.

1. You can now create custom groups for instruments in your MarketWatch. You can group them based on strategies, themes, sectors, etc. For example, you can have a custom group with all the contracts required for an options strategy like an Iron Condor.

2. We’ve also added pre-built watchlists with all the stocks of broader indices, sector indices, and thematic indices like Bank Nifty. With a couple of clicks, you can quickly see what’s happening within an index.

3. You can now create 25 different watchlists with 250 stocks per watchlist.

There’s a lot more. Check out this post for more.

We just launched fundamental stock pages powered by Tijori. If you are tracking a stock and want to get a quick snapshot of the financials, news, peer comparisons, and any potential red flags, then this will help.

To dive deeper, you can always go to Tijori’s site.

It feels nice to see Zerodha being recognized for our contributions to open source. 😀

In the next release, we @zerodhaonline won’t even ask for storage permission. 😬

Image: @livemint

Link to the full article.

The TFC feature allows you to:

– Quickly place orders directly from charts
– Easily set stoploss or limit orders at specific prices
– Drag and drop to modify orders
– Track your positions
– Set price alerts from charts and more…

Check out this video to learn more👇

Note: This feature is currently available on Kite web and will soon be available on the Kite app.

You can also check out this post to learn more.

NSE’s new retail algo trading circular is finally out. Here are the highlights:

For individual traders who code: You can now automate strategies up to 10 orders/second with just a static IP for your API key – no registration needed! Beyond that threshold, you’ll need to register with the exchange.

For algo vendors: You’ll need to register with exchanges to partner with brokers, but once registered, your users won’t need individual static IPs. All strategies need exchange registration regardless of order frequency.

For brokers like us: We can offer pre-approved algos directly on our platforms, providing more user-friendly automation options.

We @zerodhaonline have offered APIs for retail users and startups on http://kite.trade for Rs 2000 per month. With this new clarity, the regulatory risk in offering the product is greatly reduced, and so we’re bringing the price down to Rs 500 per month for the data (real-time + historical) APIs. The order placement and account management APIs (view holdings, positions, etc.) have been made free since March of 2025.

We launched the Kite Connect suite of trading APIs in 2016 to allow platforms like Smallcase, Sensibull, Streak, etc., to build on top of us. The idea was that we would take care of the execution and regulatory compliance while the startups could just focus on building a better product.

Slowly, individuals also started using the APIs, and we were charging ₹ 2000 for data and ₹ 2000 for historical data. Given that there’s now regulatory clarity on APIs for personal use, we’ve made the execution APIs free, and we only charge ₹ 2000 for data.

More here.

From a new option chain to performance curve on Console, from automated order slicing to personalised APIs, we have been busy making Zerodha work better for you in Q1 2025.

Here’s a thread showcasing the major updates across our platforms that you may have missed.🧵👇

New option chain: The option chain on Kite Web has been completely redesigned with a cleaner interface. You can now quickly access it from Marketwatch or directly from charts, with ATM strikes highlighted and key indicators like PCR, Max Pain, and IV prominently displayed.

Performance curve: The Portfolio performance curve (beta) shows how your investments and trades (Equity, MF, MTF, F&O, intraday, and commodities) perform, adjusting for the impact of cash inflows and outflows. It calculates performance similar to mutual fund NAV curves.

Order slicing: For traders placing large orders, we’ve introduced automatic order slicing. If an order exceeds the exchange freeze limit, it will now be automatically split into smaller parts. This works across all order windows – regular orders, baskets, trade from charts, and positions.

Kite Connect Personal APIs: This free API lets you access and manage your Zerodha account programmatically. It includes all essential features of Kite Connect except for market data. You can place orders, track positions, holdings, and funds as long as you have a market data source.

Systematic Transfer Plan (STP): STP has been introduced on Coin, making it easier to transfer investments between mutual funds. Unlike traditional STPs, on Coin you can now transfer between funds from different AMCs, giving you more flexibility when managing your portfolio.

New NPS module: NPS is the newest module on Zerodha Varsity web. It covers all the nuances of investing in the National Pension Scheme, a voluntary retirement scheme for all Indians, comparing it with other retirement-focused investment products.

Read more about these features and other updates from Q1 2025 in our detailed blog post.

We just launched Portfolio Performance Curve on Console. This allows you to visualize your account performance, and you can compare it to a benchmark like Nifty 50. We’re probably the only broker to offer this feature in India and possibly worldwide.

The performance curve is calculated in a similar way to the NAV of mutual funds. The daily NAV is calculated using the P&L of all trades across equity intraday and delivery, F&O, commodities, MTF, and mutual funds based on the cash in the account.

The idea with benchmarking is to show you that if you are underperforming, maybe investing in an index fund would be better for you. 🙈

It was on our list of things to do for a long time, but there were way too many moving pieces, and it got delayed.

Link to the post.

Good time to follow this advice. Over the next 10 days, there are only 4 trading days. It’s not a bad idea to take a break from trading and recharge. Judging by what’s happening, you’re going to need it. 😬

“Trading profitably requires that you monitor the market moods and your psychological moods. When either one is not conducive to trading, it’s best to stand aside and wait for the situation to change. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you should trade even in these potentially debilitating conditions. By staying out of the markets, you can survive to trade another day, when you’re in a peak performance mental state and the market conditions are optimal.”

Btw, Innerworth articles on Varsity are about trading psychology, and they are a goldmine.

Link to the full post here.

The Indian markets peaked in September 2024. Since then, the Nifty Multicap index is down 16%. However, a simple diversified portfolio of 60% Nifty Multicap, 20% debt, and 20% gold is down only 5%.

If you are diversified and disciplined, all this market drama means nothing.

Here’s some historical context on what’s happening in the markets and what you should do.

Indians have lost over Rs 2000 crores to digital arrest frauds this year. These scams work by creating fear in people. They take advantage of people’s tendency to make mistakes when they are afraid.

Here’s how the scam works:

You get a call from a person claiming to be a police officer. They tell you that a courier parcel in your name has been seized because it contains illegal items like drugs or other contraband.

Then you get a WhatsApp video call with a scamster wearing a police uniform. They threaten to arrest you, take you to court, and then ask you to transfer money to their account to “close the case.”

Those of us who are educated may think that no one will fall for such obvious scams, but crores of educated Indians have fallen victim to these frauds.

I’ve shared this earlier as well: Never react in a hurry when you get such calls. At the very least, speak to someone knowledgeable, to your lawyer, or just walk into the nearest police station. The fraud works because we instinctively become afraid and will do whatever it takes to avoid trouble. Don’t react in a hurry. Also, block or don’t receive calls and messages from unknown numbers.

Some important updates on Kite by Zerodha.

Order slicing – You can now easily place large orders without having to worry about exchange freeze limits.

Available margin – Instantly know your available funds on the Kite order window.

Market depth – Now easily access market depth on the order window itself.

Remember F&O quantity – Kite remembers the quantity you entered for a contract and automatically fill it in when you open the order window next time.

Market Protection – Makes your market orders safer, preventing them from executing at unexpected prices during volatile market conditions.

The new Basket icon lets you quickly build and execute multi-instrument orders from anywhere in the Kite platform with just a few clicks.

Read this post for more.

It’s been around 10 years since we waived off brokerage for equity delivery. Even though there is extreme pressure to change the stance, given option trading volumes are down significantly, we’ve stuck with this so far.

Over the 10 years of being free, our clients have saved between Rs 2000 and 20,000 crores as equity delivery brokerage.

And yeah, Zerodha = Zero + Barriers (Sanskrit), not Zero + brokerage. 😬

Link to the post

Coming soon: The Capital Markets Yearbook 2024, a collaboration between Zerodha and IndiaDataHub. Capturing India’s extraordinary market transformation through data-driven insights and visualizations.

From equity to debt, forex to commodities—all the data that matters in one definitive resource.

In all my time as a trader and a broker, I’ve interacted with hundreds of successful traders, both large and small. The one common element to their success and longevity is risk management. This has become all the more important in markets like these when fear takes over and having an objective mindset becomes harder.

I wanted to share a few insightful tips from an old Jerry Parker podcast:

On living to play another day.

“This is a Turtle Rule. That when you have a drawdown, you reduce your positions twice as fast as the drawdown. So, if you’re down 10%, you should reduce your positions by 20% and so on. And that’s a different day when we were trading really large, very few markets, very short-term. But I think it still kind of applies that you want to have that one rule that always works. It’s always going to work. It’s going to keep you from losing too much. And that is just to reduce your positions and live to play another day.”

On cutting your losers and letting your winners ride.

“I used to say, when you have a loss, you’re thinking, I’m hopeful that it’s going to come back and turn into a winner, but that’s when you should be fearful that the loss is going to get bigger. And then the biggest mistake is when we have big profits, we’re very fearful. We’re fearful it’s going to turn into a smaller profit, but that’s when we should be very hopeful that it’s going to be a big, huge winner. So, I think that, you know, we’re always going against the way we’re wired.”

On mistakes.

“But most of that has come from, honestly, from over-trading and not following my systems to a T, as a 100%, as much as I could have. Yeah. So, most of that was all self-induced anxiety. The markets I can kind of get over, I can turn it into a game, I love the game. I love playing and I love competing. But, yeah, that’s the two most important things. And I got that from Rich. I asked him, like, one day, what’s the two biggest mistakes we make? Or what are the biggest mistakes we’re going to make? And he’s like, oh, over trading and not following your system.”

Check out the link to the interview here.

The first thing you should do when you are starting your personal finance journey is to ensure you have sufficient life and health insurance. If you have dependents, not having life insurance is a bad idea.

Based on my interactions with folks, perhaps the biggest reason why they don’t have life insurance is because the policies are a nightmare to understand with all sorts of jargon and hidden clauses.

Then there’s the fact that insurers keep changing things. For example, I didn’t know underwriting rules had become much tougher and rejections had gone up.

So, I asked Shrehith Karkera from Ditto to write a post on things you should know before buying life insurance in 2025. Check out the link here.

You can now track all your investments in stocks, ETFs, bonds and mutual funds in a single view on Kite web. 

Check out this post for more information.

This is what the top of the bull market looks like with a lag 😬. A broker winning the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2024.

And there can’t be a more apt song than Zindagi Kaisi Yeh Paheli in the background. 

🚨Important NSE update

Starting April 4, 2025, all derivatives expiry days change from Thursday to Monday. NIFTY weekly contracts will now expire on Monday of each week instead of Thursday.

All monthly and quarterly contracts (NIFTY, BANKNIFTY, and stocks) will expire on the last Monday of the month instead of the last Thursday. Plan your trades accordingly.