Zerodha To Soon Offer US Stock Investment Via GIFT City

Broking major Zerodha is set to allow its users to invest in US stocks via GIFT City, starting next quarter, founder and CEO Nithin Kamath announced during an AMA with the company’s leadership team.

The launch, as per Kamath, has been in the works for several years, delayed by regulatory and remittance challenges. “US investing is a long-pending request, and we should have something in the next quarter,” Kamath said. 

CTO Kailash Nadh said the company has reworked its back-end systems to make the experience smooth and reliable for users.

Founded in 2010 by Nithin and Nikhil Kamath, Bengaluru-based Zerodha remains bootstrapped and profitable. It has consistently led India’s brokerage industry in terms of revenue. It posted a revenue of INR 9,372.1 Cr and a net profit of INR 5,496.3 Cr in FY24. 

However, the company saw its first decline in its top and bottom lines in more than a decade in FY25. Its revenue and profit declined about 15% YoY in FY25 due to SEBI tightening rules around futures and options trading.

Zerodha has seen about 40% revenue drop in Q1 FY26, which makes diversifying into new services such as global investing a strategic necessity.

Notably, the company first explored US stock access in 2020 but paused the plan due to Covid-19 disruptions and the complexity of remittance flows under RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS). 

The new route through GIFT City simplifies the process. Notably, GIFT City is a special zone in Gujarat that works like a global financial hub inside India. It has its own set of rules, tax benefits, and a separate regulator in the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).

Several Indian platforms like Angel One, INDmoney, CRED-owned Kuvera, HDFC Securities, Axis Direct, and Upstox already offer investing in US stocks. 

IPO-bound Groww earlier offered US trading but discontinued the offering in early 2024, citing complications such as adding USD funds, high withdrawal fee, frequent downtimes, and delays in money settlement. 

Zerodha, which currently serves around 16 Mn users, competes with the likes of Groww, Angel One, among others. However, these players are feeling the pressure following the recent regulatory changes by SEBI.

Earlier this month, Kamath said that if the regulator bans weekly options trading, the company may have to end its zero-brokerage model and start charging fees for equity delivery trades to “make the business tenable”.