Over the last few weeks, I read a few pieces on X, (X2) and the WSJ that all pointed to the same uncomfortable idea:
A lot of younger people aren’t “taking more risks” because they love chaos. They’re doing it because the old path feels slower, narrower, and less reliable, so risk starts feeling like the only lever left.
In the US, people are calling this financial nihilism a mindset where long-term prudence stops feeling rewarded, so short-horizon, high-upside bets feel “rational” (even if the math is ugly).
Now let’s translate that lens for young, active Indian traders the folks who live around weekly expiries, intraday setups, Telegram calls, and “one good trade can change my month.”
1) “Why should I wait?” the compressed-timeline mindset
The common thread across these articles is timeline compression:
- Saving and compounding is slow, and the internet shows you someone “printing” money every 30 minutes.
- Jobs feel less predictable.
- The pressure to “make it faster” becomes constant background noise.
So the attraction isn’t only money. It’s agency: the feeling that your decision today can change your outcomes today, not in 2045.
This is exactly why products with fast feedback loops win attention: options, leverage, event-based bets, anything with frequent “results.”
2) India’s version isn’t Polymarket. It’s weekly index options.
In India, the casino-economy expression is blunt:
- We’re one of the biggest equity-derivatives markets on earth, and index options became a mass retail product.
- Regulators have been trying to cool the temperature, because the retail P&L math is brutal.
SEBI’s own study: 93% of individual traders lost money in equity F&O between FY22–FY24, with aggregate losses over ₹1.8 lakh crore. SEBI
Then it continued: reporting on SEBI’s later analysis shows 91% of individuals ending FY25 in net losses, with losses widening versus FY24. Fortune India
That right there is the Indian “nihilism trap”:
- The crowd wants a step-change
- The product offers step-change fantasies
- The realized outcome is usually slow bleed
3) Why it feels rational anyway (even when it isn’t)
Here’s the honest part most sermons miss:
If your internal story is “I’m behind, and the normal ladder won’t get me there,” then a small chance at a big win feels better than a high chance of a small win.
That’s the psychological engine behind:
- YOLO option buying
- Overtrading weekly expiries
- Doubling down after a loss (“I just need one good day”)
- Guru ecosystems selling hope as a subscription
And the social layer makes it worse: wins are content, losses are private.
4) The “house” in Indian markets: it’s not a villain, it’s a business model
All three articles converge on a key point:
The platforms don’t need you to win. They need you to participate.
That’s why regulation is turning toward:
- limiting “ultra-frequent” product design (weekly expiry concentration, contract sizing, expiry-day risk controls) SEBI
- cracking down on misleading “education” that is basically unregistered advice marketing
- and even building infrastructure to verify performance claims (to reduce fake P&L marketing) Reuters
Because when you zoom out, the business flywheel is simple:
more trades → more fees/spreads/engagement → more creators → more deposits → more trades
(And in India, the scale is big enough that derivatives-policy shifts ripple globally. FIA notes India’s crackdown meaningfully impacted global ETD volumes in early 2025.) FIA
5) How to keep agency without becoming exit liquidity
If you’re a young trader, the goal shouldn’t be “never trade.” That’s unrealistic and preachy.
A better goal is:
Keep the feeling of agency, remove the self-destruction.
Practical guardrails that actually work in the real world:
A. Separate “process trades” from “hope trades”
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If you can’t write the setup + invalidation in one line, it’s probably a hope trade.
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Hope trades are allowed only if they’re pre-budgeted (see point C).
B. Weekly expiry needs a different religion
Weekly options are not “investing with extra steps.” They’re a product built for fast decay + fast feedback. Treat them like a chainsaw:
- position size first
- stop loss second
- thesis last
C. Put a hard cap on your “casino budget”
A fixed amount per month you’re allowed to lose without breaking life.
- If you don’t cap it, the market will.
D. Build boredom into your system
Old-school, but undefeated:
- journal your trades
- track “rule-following rate”
- reduce trades, improve quality
Most people try to trade their way out of a behavioral problem. That never ends well.
E. Be allergic to performance marketing
SEBI’s tightening stance on finfluencer-adjacent ecosystems is happening for a reason. SEBI
If someone sells certainty, consistency, or “guaranteed” returns then run.
6) What would actually fix the underlying “nihilism”?
Even these articles admit the uncomfortable truth: the speculation wave isn’t only “people being dumb.” It’s also structural pressure + product design + social media.
So the long-term fix isn’t one perfect trading course.
It’s: