The two numbers above cannot be compared numerically.

One measures daily trading velocity.

The other measures long-duration investor infrastructure.

For Bull Run's company pages, see Multi Commodity Exchange of India, CDSL, the Exchange and Data Platform sector and the Depositories and Clearing sector.

Q1 FY27 operating comparison

MCX's Q1 was a textbook network-effect quarter

Futures average daily turnover increased 47% to approximately ₹59,674 crore.

Options notional ADT increased approximately 266% to ₹9.90 lakh crore.

Combined futures-and-options ADT reached approximately ₹10.5 lakh crore, up 238% year on year.

Total traded clients increased from approximately 7.03 lakh to 13.72 lakh.

At the same time:

• revenue increased 88%,
• EBITDA increased 98%,
• PAT increased 103%.

This sequence is exactly what investors look for in an exchange business.

More than 98.5% market share changes the competitive analysis

MCX maintained more than 98.5% market share by value of commodity futures contracts traded during Q1 FY27.

This is not simply a leading market share.

It is close to monopoly economics in the relevant traded-value category.

The reason is liquidity concentration.

A commodity hedger wants to trade where:

• bid-ask spreads are narrow,
• open interest is deep,
• large orders can be executed,
• market makers are active,
• delivery infrastructure is trusted.

Once most liquidity concentrates on one exchange, competitors face a difficult coordination problem.

They need traders to create liquidity, but traders will not migrate until liquidity already exists.

CDSL's 80% account share is a different kind of dominance

CDSL's approximately 80% market share by demat-account count also represents a formidable network moat.

But account dominance works more slowly than exchange liquidity.

A broker can support CDSL because millions of customers already use it.

New customers then open accounts through the broker.

Issuers, registrars, clearing systems and depository participants build processes around that installed base.

The result is significant switching friction.

Unlike an options trader who can change venue quickly if liquidity shifts, a demat-account infrastructure relationship tends to persist.

MCX wins on Q1 growth by a huge margin

The gap is large enough that it should not be explained away as quarter-to-quarter noise.

MCX is currently in a powerful exchange-volume upcycle.

CDSL is in a more mature stage of the retail financialisation cycle.

Its account base is still expanding, but percentage growth naturally slows as the denominator becomes enormous.

MCX's operating leverage is stronger — but it works both ways

Revenue increased 88% while EBITDA increased approximately 98%.

That means incremental revenue carried a very high contribution margin.

Yet MCX's Q1 revenue was lower sequentially than Q4 FY26.

Quarter-on-quarter moderation is a useful reminder that exchange economics are cyclical.

A platform can grow explosively year on year while still experience a 20%+ sequential decline after an exceptionally strong previous quarter.

This is why investors should not annualise one quarter mechanically.

CDSL's lower growth comes with greater revenue diversity

CDSL's Q1 operating revenue was supported by several sources.

Annual issuer income reached approximately ₹128 crore.

Transaction charges were approximately ₹66 crore.

IPO and corporate-action charges, online-data charges, e-voting, account statements, KYC-related activity and treasury income provided additional revenue.

No single product is equivalent to MCX's commodity trading franchise.

That revenue diversity can produce lower upside during an exchange-volume boom but also smoother earnings across different market conditions.

What actually drives MCX volumes?

Commodity derivatives serve several different users.

This gives MCX a deeper economic role than being merely a speculation venue.

Gold, silver, crude oil, natural gas and base metals are real commercial inputs.

Companies have genuine reasons to hedge them.

That underlying hedging demand supports the exchange even when retail enthusiasm changes.

Options are now the dominant growth accelerator

Options notional ADT rose 266% to approximately ₹9.90 lakh crore.

That dwarfed futures ADT of ₹59,674 crore on a notional basis.

The metrics should not be compared as though notional options turnover and futures turnover carry identical economics.

Options notional values can become enormous because the underlying exposure is much larger than premium paid.

Still, the direction is clear.

Options are creating a much larger participation pool on MCX.

Client growth shows the volume increase was not only price inflation

Total traded clients rose from 7.03 lakh to 13.72 lakh.

That is almost a doubling of active participation.

If turnover had increased only because gold or silver prices rose, the quality of volume growth would be less impressive.

The expansion in traded clients shows that the user network itself broadened substantially.

Physical delivery is part of MCX's moat

Q1 physical deliveries included approximately:

• 6.3 metric tonnes of gold,
• 122 metric tonnes of silver,
• 20,700 metric tonnes of base metals.

Physical-delivery infrastructure matters because a commodity futures contract ultimately needs credible convergence with the underlying commodity.

Warehouses, refiners, quality standards and settlement systems strengthen confidence in the contract.

MCX also expanded Good Delivery standards and domestic refiner empanelment.

That infrastructure creates a moat that cannot be reproduced by launching a trading website alone.

CDSL's equivalent physical infrastructure is securities custody

CDSL does not warehouse gold or copper.

Its infrastructure challenge is maintaining legally valid electronic ownership records across millions of investors and securities.

The depository must coordinate:

• depository participants,
• brokers,
• exchanges,
• clearing corporations,
• issuers,
• registrars,
• banks,
• regulators.

The key product is trust in the ownership ledger.

That trust is every bit as systemically important as commodity-delivery integrity.

MCX's profitability density is exceptional

Q1 revenue from operations was ₹702 crore.

EBITDA was approximately ₹544 crore.

The company website shows an EBITDA margin around 72.3% under its Q1 FY27 presentation.

PAT was ₹413 crore.

That means a large share of incremental transaction revenue passes through to profit.

Few businesses can scale revenue without simultaneously scaling raw materials, factories or inventory.

Exchanges can.

CDSL is asset-light too, but technology investment is rising

CDSL is also structurally asset-light.

It does not lend customer money.

It does not need factories.

It maintains technology infrastructure and regulatory capital.

However, technology and cyber-security expenses have been increasing as the depository serves more users and complies with increasingly demanding market-infrastructure standards.

This can suppress near-term margins while strengthening long-term system resilience.

Which moat is stronger?

MCX has the higher numerical share.

CDSL arguably has greater customer stickiness.

The strongest moat therefore depends on whether an investor values liquidity concentration or installed-account persistence more highly.

Regulatory risk is central to both companies

Both are market infrastructure institutions.

Neither controls its economic rules entirely.

SEBI and other regulators influence:

• contract design,
• margin requirements,
• position limits,
• technology standards,
• cyber-security obligations,
• settlement systems,
• fee structures.

For MCX, regulatory changes can directly alter commodity-derivatives activity.

For CDSL, changes can affect depository charges, KYC economics, settlement workflows and technology spending.

MCX also carries commodity-cycle risk

Commodity trading activity is not stable.

Gold and silver volatility can attract significant volume.

Crude-oil shocks can increase hedging.

Natural-gas volatility can dramatically change option participation.

Periods of low volatility can reduce trader interest.

This makes MCX earnings partly linked to global macro and commodity-price volatility.

CDSL is linked more broadly to Indian securities participation.

CDSL carries retail-financialisation risk

Demat-account growth has been extraordinary for several years.

But percentage growth inevitably slows as the base gets larger.

At 18.59 crore accounts, adding another 3 crore accounts creates a smaller percentage growth rate than it did when the base was 5 crore.

CDSL therefore needs more than account additions.

It needs monetisation per account through:

• transactions,
• issuer growth,
• pledges,
• corporate actions,
• e-voting,
• data and digital services.

The stock-split issue: Bull Run's raw MCX history should not be used here

MCX completed a 1:5 stock split effective January 2, 2026.

One ₹10 face-value share became five ₹2 face-value shares.

A stock split changes the quoted per-share price without changing shareholder economic value.

Bull Run's current MCX raw historical fields still show a pre-split 52-week high around ₹11,219 alongside a post-split current price near ₹3,280.

That produces distorted raw return statistics.

Those MCX one-year, six-month and 52-week-high fields are therefore intentionally excluded.

Valuation: use split-adjusted current market data

Because Bull Run's MCX historical/capitalisation fields show post-split inconsistencies, the valuation comparison uses a verified split-adjusted August 31, 2026 market snapshot for MCX.

The faster-growing company was trading at the lower current P/E.

That looks attractive superficially.

But current MCX earnings are benefiting from an extraordinary commodity-derivatives volume cycle.

If turnover normalises, TTM P/E can rise even without the share price increasing because the earnings denominator becomes harder to grow.

CDSL's higher P/E reflects lower current growth but a more recurring installed-account model.

MCX versus CDSL is therefore a duration question

MCX offers:

• higher current growth,
• higher current margins,
• near-monopoly commodity-futures share,
• strong client growth,
• powerful transaction operating leverage.

CDSL offers:

• 18.59 crore installed accounts,
• approximately 80% account share,
• more diversified fee streams,
• annual issuer-charge recurrence,
• less direct dependence on one asset-class trading cycle.

Which has the stronger growth runway?

Near term: MCX.

The options ecosystem is expanding rapidly, traded clients have nearly doubled and new contracts can deepen participation further.

Long duration: both have strong structural drivers.

India's corporate and household demand for commodity hedging remains underdeveloped compared with large global markets.

India's retail securities ownership also remains capable of expanding for many years.

The two companies are therefore exposed to different legs of the same financialisation theme.

Which has better current operating leverage?

MCX by a wide margin.

Revenue increased 88%, EBITDA increased 98% and PAT increased 103%.

CDSL's growth was in the mid-teens while costs continued rising for technology and people.

The caveat is that MCX's operating leverage can reverse more sharply if trading volumes decline.

Which has the more predictable revenue base?

CDSL.

Annual issuer charges and an enormous installed demat-account base are less volatile than commodity-options turnover.

However, CDSL is not fully defensive.

Transaction income and corporate-action revenue still move with market activity.

Which has the stronger market share?

Numerically, MCX.

More than 98.5% of commodity-futures value is an extraordinary position.

CDSL's approximately 80% demat-account share is lower numerically but arguably more deeply embedded in retail financial infrastructure.

MCX vs CDSL: category-by-category

Which is stronger in 2026?

MCX currently has the stronger operating momentum.

Its near-monopoly futures position, explosive options growth, almost doubled client base and 70%+ EBITDA margin have created exceptional earnings growth.

The stock's valuation is high in absolute terms but is not obviously higher than CDSL's on current TTM earnings.

CDSL has the more predictable long-duration installed-base model.

Its advantage is not explosive quarterly growth.

It is the gradual accumulation of millions of investor relationships and issuer-linked fee streams.

Therefore the comparison is:

MCX = faster transaction compounding with higher cycle sensitivity.

CDSL = slower account compounding with greater recurring infrastructure characteristics.

What to monitor next

• MCX options ADT: the fastest-growing component of exchange activity.
• MCX futures ADT: important for commercial hedging depth.
• MCX traded clients: tests whether participation keeps broadening.
• MCX market share: any sustained move below the current near-monopoly level deserves attention.
• MCX sequential revenue: Q1 was strong YoY but moderated from Q4 FY26.
• CDSL demat additions: measures retail financialisation momentum.
• CDSL issuer folios: supports recurring annual issuer charges.
• CDSL technology cost: necessary investment should translate into scalable operating resilience.
• CDSL transaction charges: the clearest bridge between capital-market activity and depository revenue.

Frequently asked questions