Nithin Kamath, CEO of Zerodha, shared a humorous “obituary” for the Bank Nifty weekly contracts, bidding farewell to a financial instrument that has been a cornerstone for Indian traders for the past seven years.
Kamath shared a mock obituary created by an old trader friend on X, announcing the “passing” of Bank Nifty Weekly, which was “survived by her mother, NSE,” along with sibling contracts like Bank Nifty Monthly and Nifty 50 weekly.
The ‘obituary’, which is in ‘loving memory of Bank Nifty Weekly’ puts the lifespan from ‘27.05.2016 – 13.11.2024’.
The message reads: “We regret to inform you that Bank Nifty Weekly expired (for the final time) this Wednesday, after a brief struggle with regulation. In her short life, she saw many ups and downs. She was wild and mysterious, leaving us speculating about her every move. We are forever enriched by her presence (7% of us, that is; 93% of traders make losses from F&O trading). Wednesdays will never be the same without her.”
The post then mentions two quotes. "What we have once enjoyed we can never lose,” by Hellen Keller and a hilarious, "I don’t know, man, I lost a lot of money,” from an ‘anonymous trader’.
Launched in 2016 by the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Bank Nifty Weekly contracts became a mainstay for retail and institutional traders alike, turning India into the world’s largest options market. But as of November 13, the Bank Nifty weekly contracts have expired for good, a casualty of new regulations meant to curb speculation in India’s explosive derivatives market.
The contract’s discontinuation comes on the heels of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) tightening its grip on the derivatives market. Once an obscure financial instrument, the Bank Nifty Weekly grew rapidly, eventually representing a third of all index options volumes on the NSE.
The pandemic supercharged this trend, as millions of homebound Indians turned to trading Bank Nifty Weekly contracts. The allure was obvious: with relatively small investments, traders could place high-stakes bets on market movements. Yet, an updated SEBI study revealed the dark underbelly of this growth — 93% of retail traders lost money on equity derivatives.
SEBI’s crackdown is part of a broader move to channel household savings back into the economy. After months of deliberations, it has introduced restrictions on the availability of weekly options, limiting each exchange to just one type of weekly contract. The NSE has retained the Nifty 50 weeklies, while the BSE continues with Sensex contracts, marking the end of the road for Bank Nifty weeklies.
Kamath has noted that Zerodha’s futures and options (F&O) trading could see a 60% volume reduction due to these changes.
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