Charles Schwab and Cboe to launch S&P 500 binary options contracts
Charles Schwab is partnering with Cboe Global Markets to launch S&P 500 binary options contracts, marking the brokerage's first move into prediction-market-style products. The yes-or-no wagers will let Schwab's roughly 39 million active brokerage accounts trade on whether the index closes above or below a target price. The move places the established retail brokerage in direct competition with Kalshi and Polymarket, the leading event-contract platforms. Schwab follows trading platforms including Robinhood and Interactive Brokers, which have previously rolled out event contracts. The partnership leverages Cboe's options infrastructure to bring binary contracts to mainstream retail investors. No launch date has been announced.
Schwab's 39 million accounts give Kalshi and Polymarket their first rival with existing retail scale and brokerage trust, not a startup fighting for user acquisition. Cboe's regulated options plumbing means Schwab can skip the CFTC registration slog that slowed earlier entrants.
Schwab joins Robinhood and Interactive Brokers as the third major US retail brokerage to build out prediction-market products, pulling Cboe's infrastructure into the same retail race where Robinhood tests Rothera for some World Cup contracts while keeping others on Kalshi.