According to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) research, Indian retail Futures & Options (F&O) traders recorded net losses in every financial year from FY22 to FY26. They accumulated losses of $40.36 billion (₹3.85 lakh crore), based on data from the top 15 brokers covering around 90% of retail/individual investors.
This equates to approximately 9 of 10 (90-91%) individual traders losing money in a typical year. The losses peaked in FY25, but declined by nearly 18% in FY26 due to a reduction in participation of nearly 20% after SEBI measures like higher contract sizes, position limits, and expiry rationalization. But the average loss per trader left still slightly increased.
Trader participation surged from 4.274 million (42.74 lakh) in FY22 to 9.81 million (98.1 lakh) in FY25 before slightly declining, with notional turnover peaking at $2.232 trillion (₹213 lakh crore) and average losses per trader ranging between $995 and $1,226 (₹95,000 and ₹1.17 lakh).
Based on KoinX’s report, which analyzed over 670,000 Indian crypto users in FY 2024–25, around 50.91% of users were profitable, while 49.09% reported losses. However, profits were heavily concentrated, with the top 5% accounting for nearly 96% of total gains.
The picture worsens in derivatives. Only 18.41% of KoinX futures traders were profitable, with total losses exceeding gains ($287M vs $261M). Broader industry data suggests that 70–80% of crypto derivatives participants incur losses, mirroring trends seen in India’s equity F&O market.
Moreover, industry data from other Indian crypto platforms show that about 70-80% of the participants in the crypto derivatives and futures segment are incurring losses. These losses are suffered primarily by retail investors, who make up approximately 70% of futures activity. This pattern mirrors KoinX’s equity F&O, but in a largely unregulated or lightly supervised market.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});In both markets, the structural advantage lies with the more well-resourced and institutional market participants. For retail traders who remain active, they will require better risk management, a healthy perception of the likelihood, and an awareness of changing disclosure and taxation requirements.
Related: Indian Crypto Trading Shifted Offshore in FY25 Amid Tax Pressures
