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Charles Schwab, Cboe advance retail event contracts as Cboe launches Cboe Predicts

Charles Schwab, Cboe advance retail event contracts as Cboe launches Cboe Predicts

Cboe has launched SEC-regulated Mini S&P 500 binary options on Interactive Brokers, with Charles Schwab expected to add access in coming months as exchanges push prediction-style trading into mainstream brokerage channels.

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Fact Check
Both components of the claim are corroborated by primary and official sources. Cboe's official prediction-markets page describes regulated exchange-traded S&P 500 binary options and explicitly links to 'About Cboe Predicts,' confirming the Cboe Predicts platform and its first prediction-market products. The WSJ and CoinDesk reports confirm Charles Schwab is partnering with Cboe to offer S&P 500 yes-or-no/event-based options for retail customers. Cboe's IR announcement further documents its prediction markets framework and planned S&P 500 contracts. The Schwab offering is reported as planned/forthcoming (per WSJ sourcing), which matches the claim's 'reportedly planning' framing.
Summary

Cboe Global Markets launched its Cboe Predicts suite on June 23 with Mini S&P 500 Index binary option contracts XSPBW and XSPBX, extending prediction-market-style trading deeper into mainstream brokerage under SEC-supervised options rules. The contracts went live on Interactive Brokers on Tuesday and are expected to roll out to Charles Schwab in the coming months, giving Schwab a path to offer the product across its 47.2 million accounts and $11.8 trillion in assets. Economically, the contracts function like event contracts on platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket: a yes position pays $100 if the index settles at or above a specified level and $0 otherwise. Unlike CFTC-regulated event contracts, however, the products clear through the Options Clearing Corporation and avoid the CFTC registration and state gambling-law disputes that have affected Kalshi, including in Kentucky. The launch places Cboe alongside Nasdaq in an SEC-regulated version of the prediction-markets business. The SEC approved Nasdaq’s proposal on April 30 to list binary options on the Nasdaq 100 and Nasdaq 100 Micro Index after a filing in early March, while Intercontinental Exchange, parent of the New York Stock Exchange, has taken a separate route by investing in Polymarket. ICE committed up to $2 billion in October 2025 at an $8 billion pre-investment valuation and later completed an additional $600 million cash investment on March 27, becoming the global distributor of Polymarket event-driven data to institutional clients. The broader backdrop is a fight over how U.S. prediction markets should be regulated. The American Gaming Association is pressing Congress to curb the CFTC route for sports event contracts, while that effort would not affect Cboe Predicts because it sits entirely under SEC jurisdiction. Cboe is also weighing a separate move into perpetual-style Bitcoin and Ether futures, showing how established exchange groups are using their existing regulatory infrastructure to expand into product categories first popularized by crypto-native platforms.

Terms & Concepts
  • binary options: Contracts with fixed payouts based on whether a specified outcome happens by settlement.
  • Options Clearing Corporation: The clearinghouse that processes and guarantees listed options trades in the U.S.
  • prediction markets: Markets where traders buy and sell contracts tied to whether specific events or conditions occur.