The result is an acceleration of Indian savings away from gold and real estate into financial products. However, it is also leading to what Ashish Gupta, chief investment officer at Axis Bank’s mutual fund, dubs “the gamification of Indian equities”. A frenzy for index options has driven up volume in the derivatives market to the tune of $4.3 trillion a day. Retail traders made up a higher share of equity derivatives turnover than their institutional counterparts on the National Stock Exchange between 2017 and 2021. Whatever the fix, it’s a reminder that India’s digital leapfrog which other developing countries are urgently trying to replicate has a dark side too.

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Persons: Francis Mascarenhas, Ashish Gupta, Gupta, weren’t, Ananth Narayan, SEBI, Nithin Kamath, Zerodha, Lalit Keshre, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: Bombay Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, National Stock Exchange, Tiger, Securities, Exchange Board of India, Thomson Locations: Mumbai, India, U.S