Meet the new YouTube finfluencers - teenagers trading options ‘making 36-40%’
“Watching business channels on mute is key to my success," claims a 13-year-old self-proclaimed “world’s youngest successful options trader" on financial influencer Vivek Bindra’s YouTube channel.
Bindra, who has 21 million followers, features the young trader, who asserts she earns at least “36-40%" in annual returns from options trading.
This is part of a growing trend where financial influencers showcase minors claiming impressive returns through options trading, even as the Securities and Exchange Board of India steers clear of regulating financial education.
“My dad told me the more we watch financial news on mute, the more we can focus on the numbers and the more your brain’s algo with get activated," she tells Bindra about her trading strategies. Her LinkedIn profile shows she is pursuing a bachelor's in commerce.
In another video, two teenagers (aged 14-15) praise their “online stock market mentor", Advduth Sathe, a Marathi YouTuber with 700,000 followers who sells courses on options trading. “I enjoy this more than my school classes," one student declares on Sathe’s channel.
A report published by Sebi in 2023 said 9 out of 10 traders lose money in options trade. While the regulator is trying to discourage trading in the F&O market by increasing taxes and sending warning signals, it has not been able to curb the speculative market.
In fact, the combined turnover F&O volume of NSE and BSE was a whopping 80% of the global share in April 2024.
Sebi wants to stay out of regulating courses that it believes are meant for ‘investor education'.
“Somebody who is doing pure education, not giving specific stock advice and not making any claims of performance will be outside the purview of our regulation," said Madhabi
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