Zerodha's Future Plans?

At the backend, all our customers are divided into 4 different setups. If any one of them goes down, we can move customers from the one which has gone down to another setup. Also since it is distributed across 4 setups, the load on an individual setup also goes down significantly. Load plays a part here because of certain restrictions we have in terms of the underlying infra (max messages our leased line can handle per second, max orders our vendor based order management system can take, and more).

1 Like

There are regulatory issues with this and waiting for clear SEBI approvals on this.

https://twitter.com/Nithin0dha/status/1451808524254728193

Btw, we have decided to take the GIFT city route for this, so that there is no regulatory questions on this in the future. With the GIFT city route, there are some regulatory clarifications being awaited.

1 Like

Yep, something coming up soon.

1 Like

@nithin Hi please do something about the charts as well, they don’t get updated properly…i have to refresh them every 3-4 minutes (i use chartiq)

Charts working fine from our end. Can you raise a ticket for this, please?

You may refer to this, this may help you.

Hi what are the benefits of going through Gift City? I think I read somewhere that TrueBeacon is also based out of Gift City
Does that mean the registered address of your company would be based out of Gift City? and the Govt gives some tax/regulatory benefits for being based from that district?

The question that was asked earlier was around investing in US or international stocks for an Indian retail investor. There are plans to list international stocks at GIFT, once done it will probably be a more compliant and safer way for Indian investors looking to invest in international stocks.

But yeah, otherwise if you are a foreigner looking to trade India then being based in GIFT has a bunch of tax SOPs. The reason for True Beacon to set up a shop there was to help foreigners looking to invest in India. Nothing for resident Indians currently at GIFT.

1 Like

have you checked my problem brother please check.

yes, the current version of TV does not support a continuous chart. This is on our to-do list, we will check if this can be added while upgrading.

Continuous data for CDS is possible I believe, let me explore this and get back to you.

Currently, the drawing’s settings cannot be saved. We are requesting this from our charting library vendor.

thanks brother i have full faith in you. You can do it i know please bring these things. i am waiting for these.
Even TV shows historical data of mcx futures they can definetly provide you this.
Do it brother please

1 Like

@nithin but w.r.t API access fees, your platform’s approach has been the opposite…While most brokers are providing API access for free, your platform charges 2k per month which is very huge for someone who wants to move away from riskier manual trading to a systematic approach. Its unfortunate that we have to rely on other platforms for algo trading, especially the ones who are in learning phase, as the traders who master algo might not mind 2k per month due to increased volumes, unlike the new ones leaning towards a systematic approach who practice with smaller quantities or single lots.

Brokerage itself is a barrier as, there are platforms which provide flat brokerage per month. But what set Zerodha apart was its quality of the platform “Kite”. So while you had competitors with better pricing, none had the kind of platform to offer. Even today, there is no competition w.r.t Kite which is the best.

But in algo trading, this platform is irrelevant. So what are we paying the premium for? So even without the API fees, zerodha doesnt offer anything more compared to competitors. I would rather trade with platforms which offer flat brokerage plans per month. Now with API fees on top, there is just no benefit with zerodha…Even full service brokers work out better than zerodha when it comes to algo trading.

Its unfortunate that the platform which pulled me to trading is the only platform where I dont trade anymore!

2 Likes

The API access fees was a way for us to ensure that this doesn’t become a mass-market product. We feared that if it were to become a mass-market product, platforms claiming guaranteed profit-generating algos will mushroom and then there will be a regulation that will maybe make offering APIs even for the programming community very tough. That is exactly what is happening right now. Otherwise charging for API’s doesn’t really make any business sense for us, if we had an option we would have wanted a lot more folks to be using APIs.

A broking platform takes risks on every trade and charging flat monthly fees is a really bad business model. It is almost like an insurance business charging the same premium irrespective of the value of the cover. Many broking businesses around the world tried flat monthly fees and switched back. The ones you are referring to are trying to attract customers with the flat monthly fees as maybe they have no other way to get new customers, but I can put money on the table that either they will never grow as a business or they will eventually switch back to charging per trade.

5 Likes

But the answer is right there. Those consequences are not under your control and as a result, you should not stop yourself from pushing people in the right direction. Infact, with those barriers which zerodha has put up, you are only pushing people towards more unreliable platforms as those who want to move towards algo will anyway do it whether it is with support of zerodha or not.

Also, the explanation is not convincing as zerodha partners with streak. So the push towards mass market is definitely there. With the limitations of streak, again, its more likely for users to lose money with STREAK+ZERODHA combo vs making APIs free so that users could use their preferred algo platform.

Streak users have no choice but to rely on “unofficial” plugins to automate the algo trade which are not fool proof and is more likely to cause algos to fail. Plus the limitations of streak given that it is still a young platform doesnt give the flexibility to algo traders. All these are only hindrances for upcoming algo traders and are not supportive steps in any way.

Pls rethink on this strategy and do the right thing. As a market leader, you should indeed do the right thing even if it is against your own interest or majority opinion (blocking deep OTM options for eg.). As you have rightly pointed it out in many instances, Zerodha does indeed take that approach and many of us do appreciate it.

But when it comes to certain processes and this regressive strategy on algo, Zerodha is taking steps in backward direction instead of helping the trading community move forward. Kindly reconsider your approach.

3 Likes

Since I am not aware of pros and cons of different working models of a broking industry, I will take your expert opinion on this and accept your explanation Nithin. Even if flat monthly brokerage was a healthy approach, I might still choose Zerodha for flat brokerage per order as the premium is worth the platform “Kite”.

But what is the value add for algo users with zerodha when Kite is not relevant to them?

1 Like

Also, isnt this the same thought process which full service brokers adopted and ignored Zerodha when Zerodha’s flat brokerage per order model was new kid on the block?

1 Like

Streak isn’t really meant for programmers, it is meant for those who don’t know programming do basic stuff. Can’t really compare Streak to Kite connect APIs, two different use cases.

In all likelihood there will soon be a regulation that will make offering APIs tougher. We will decide what to do once the regulations on APIs are out there.

Not really. We offered flat brokerage per trade because the effort involved in executing a trade remains the same irrespective of the size of the trade. Also

A key impetus for us starting Zerodha in 2010 was that there were discussions in the markets on SEBI introducing margin reporting and short margin penalty after the market collapse in 2008. We thought we could potentially disrupt pricing if we didn’t have to compete with other brokers by offering high leverage taking much higher risks. This is what led to us launching a flat fee pricing model (of Rs. 20 per executed order in 2010) for the first time in India.

So no, a flat monthly fees make no business sense. If it did, I would have accepted it, unlike the traditional brokerage folks who lived in denial for a long time that in the online world effort doesn’t go up with the size of the trade and hence % brokerage doesn’t make sense.

Kite APIs are probably the cleanest, fastest and most reliable API out there. You still get access to all our reporting (console) and partner products. You also get to be with a broker who has a sustainable business model, zero debt and has no questionable business practices.

But yeah, if these don’t feel like value to you, then you are right to trade somewhere else that offers APIs for free and flat monthly brokerage fees.

4 Likes

I agree with the reporting part which I failed to mention. The Kite platform and the reporting which you have are indeed the best which no other competitor even comes close to. And I can say this as I have tried using almost 20-25 platforms!

Maybe but the same Kite API access is indeed required when we have to use a platform like tradetron, which is like Streak itself but a more mature platform. But whether its from a programmable platform or non programmable platform, should not have a bearing in my opinion.

This is similar to SEBI trying to regulate algos. It shouldnt matter to Zerodha if I am placing orders via Kite API using a programmable platform or non-programmable platform.

Anyways, the feedback was on behalf of small set of traders who are affected, who love most of the stuff which zerodha offers but still unable to make use of the zerodha platform due to above mentioned showstoppers. Just like it is hard to convince SEBI on some of its weird regulations, it is indeed difficult to convince Zerodha by small players :wink: Big players are anyway unaffected as usual.

Ok. Makes sense.

1 Like

This is the crux of the issue. If it didn’t have any bearing, Kite APIs would be for free.

If the automation on Tradetron or other such platforms goes kaput, the liability can potentially come back on the broker who provided the APIs. In the case of a platform where a person is manually placing the order based on an alert, there is no liability. Even the white paper that SEBI put out indicates that only brokers can provide pre-made completely automated algos, if the final circular has a clarity that there is no liability, then yeah we will relook into the pricing.

1 Like

I have heard that Zerodha plans to launch mutual funds, so that will also be an interesting path to go.