Greed never goes away: Nithin Kamath reflects on market manias, citing crash lessons from 1929

Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath has drawn parallels between historic market crashes and the current investment climate, reminding traders that every boom-and-bust cycle has one common driver: human greed.

In a post on He quoted US President Herbert Hoover’s comment at the time: ‘The only problem with capitalism is the capitalists. They’re fucking greedy.’

Kamath used this reference to make a broader point: despite changing financial instruments, regulations and asset classes, the emotional DNA of the market remains unchanged. “Every crash, 1907, 1929, 1987, 2001 (Dotcom), 2008 (GFC) and so many more, follows the same script,” he wrote.

According to him, the story always starts the same way: greed drives prices up, creating bubbles that attract even those who don’t fully understand the risks. As the excitement builds, leverage quietly accumulates – through loans, margin trades or complex derivatives. “It always finds a home,” Kamath noted.

Then inevitably comes the reckoning. “One day the bubble will burst,” he said. “Leverage declines with unstoppable force, magnifying losses as successive selloffs feed on themselves. Markets collapse, fortunes evaporate and the cycle reaches its end.’

Kamath’s reflection encompasses the psychology underlying not only historical collapses such as the 1929 Wall Street crash or the 2008 financial crisis, but also more recent speculative manias in cryptocurrencies and small-cap stocks. While every generation of investors believes they are witnessing something new, the pattern rarely changes – only the instruments do. “In the aftermath, lessons are learned,” Kamath wrote. ‘Regulation focuses on the specific form of abuse of power that caused the crisis. The mechanism is being repaired, reformed and curtailed. But greed never goes away.” That recurring greed, he added, “just waits and then returns in a new form, finding new channels for abuse of power that no one is looking at.” And the cycle begins again. Different stories. Same ending.”

Kamath’s post has resonated with market participants, especially in a year when global equities have been volatile and speculative segments in the Indian market – from small caps to thematic trades – have drawn warnings from regulators.

The Zerodha founder has often spoken in euphoric phases about investor behavior and risks. His final memory – rooted in market history – underlines a timeless truth: while technology and regulations evolve, human nature remains the biggest variable in the financial world.