IPO Flipping, Risky Trades, Debt: A Dangerous Game Young Indians Are Playing

Data shows retail traders under 30 are losing big, often with borrowed resources

- Abhishek Dadhwal, Rasmeet Kohli & Pradiptarathi Panda

The dream of becoming rich overnight is pushing a growing number of youth down a dangerous path—gambling on risky trades and taking high-interest loans—and ending up deep in debt. Encouraged by finfluencers and emboldened by behavioral biases such as herd mentality, FOMO (fear of missing out), and overconfidence, these retail traders are chasing high-risk derivatives trading and initial public offering (IPO) flipping.

According to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the number of intraday traders has surged fivefold, with nearly 48% of new entrants under the age of 30. A staggering 93% of the 1.13 crore traders between 2022 and 2024 ended up losing money—amounting to combined losses of ₹1.8 lakh crore. The average trader earned ₹5 lakh annually, but suffered average losses nearing ₹2 lakh.

Much of this frenzy has been around IPO flipping. Many young investors today subscribe to IPOs not for long-term growth, but to exit quickly with listing gains. Sebi data shows that 50% of IPO shares allotted to individuals were sold within a week of listing. Of the 80 IPOs listed between December 2024 and March 2025, 57 posted average listing gains of 40%, while only 14 listed at a loss—yet these bets often backfire for the uninformed.