Financial services giant Charles Schwab will reportedly enter the forecast markets market by offering customers bets on the S&P 500 Index.
Charles Schwab did, according to a Friday Wall Street Journal report planning to launch options contracts that allow users to place “yes” or “no” bets on the performance of the S&P 500 stock index. The move, expected to be rolled out within a few months as part of a partnership with Cboe Global Market, could be the company’s first foray into forecasting markets.
Source: Kalshi
While forecast market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket offer a variety of event contracts based on the outcome of events, including those related to politics, sports, weather and companies, Charles Schwab’s product will reportedly feature only yes-or-no bets on whether the S&P 500 will close above or below the target price. Cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase have also moved closer to predictive offerings, with many predicting the market will reach $1 trillion in annual volume by 2030.
In May, Charles Schwab announced the launch of spot trading of Bitcoin and Ether for retail customers, marking the company’s deeper foray into digital asset services. Business reported net income of $2.5 billion for the first quarter of 2026.
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Both Polymarket and Kalshi already offer similar contracts for events tied to S&P 500 forecasts.
Prediction markets are still under the control of lawmakers
While the market continues to grow, many state-level authorities and members of the US Congress are calling for oversight of platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. In addition to the potential for elected officials to benefit from the utilize of nonpublic information on the platforms, many state gaming bodies are questioning their ability to offer contracts for sports-related events.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), chaired by Michael Selig, has taken the position that futures contracts qualify as “swaps” and that the agency has exclusive regulatory and enforcement jurisdiction. Many of the Kalshi, Polymarket, CFTC and government cases are still pending.
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