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Traditional finance giants Charles Schwab and Citadel Securities are both considering entering prediction markets, with each separately weighing up how they wish to get involved in the fast-growing sector.

“I think at some point we likely will have prediction markets,” Rick Wurster, the CEO of the banking and investing titan Schwab, told investors during a call on Thursday.

He added that prediction markets weren’t “of tremendous interest” when he recently asked a group of Schwab clients about them, but it was an area the company would “take a hard look at, and it would be quite straightforward for us to offer.”

Charles Schwab CEO Rick Wurster speaking to CNBC after the company launched Bitcoin and Ether trading on Thursday. Source: CNBC

Prediction markets such as the popular Kalshi and Polymarket have exploded in use over the past few months, with both platforms seeing a record combined total monthly trading volume of $23.6 billion in March, according to Token Terminal.

However, Kalshi, Polymarket and other prediction market platforms have also caught the ire of some US state regulators, who have accused them in court of offering unlicensed sports betting.

Some federal lawmakers have also vowed to crack down on prediction markets, claiming the platforms weren’t doing enough to stamp out insider trading.

Wurster said Schwab’s potential offering would steer away from allowing bets on areas such as sports, politics and pop culture as it looks to position itself as a partner for building long-term wealth.

“Prediction markets that are not aligned to that are not something that we want to pursue,” he said. “If you look at the stats on the success of gamblers, they're not strong, and people generally lose money.”

Citadel “keeping an eye” on prediction markets

Meanwhile, Citadel Securities president Jim Esposito said at a Semafor conference in Washington, DC, on Thursday that the company is “absolutely keeping an eye on developments” in prediction markets. 

Citadel Securities president Jim Esposito speaking at the Semafor World Economy conference on Thursday. Source: YouTube

“We're not there yet, there's not that much liquidity,” he added, but said that the market is likely to “ramp and scale,” and it was “certainly possible” that the market-making firm would potentially look to get involved.

Esposito said Citadel was “not looking at sports at the moment at all, I don't see us entering that market,” but did signal an interest in some event contracts.

He added that Citadel could see its retail and institutional clients use some event contracts as a hedge for risks to their investments, such as contracts for elections, which have been known to move markets.

“That's going to be some of the biggest risks to investors' portfolios that they're going to have to grapple with,” Esposito said. “Having a clean and distinct way to hedge certain risks, I think there's a good use case and industrial logic to it.”

Magazine: Should users be allowed to bet on war and death in prediction markets?

Key points:

Bitcoin market upheaval continues as Galaxy Digital moves thousands of BTC to exchanges.

RSI values collapse to rare lows before printing bullish divergences with price.

$117,000 emerges as an important BTC price upside target.

Bitcoin (BTC) is showing signs of recovery after “oversold” conditions hit rare lows Friday.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Bitcoin RSI rout underscores Galaxy Digital nerves

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows bullish divergences creeping in on the relative strength index (RSI) for BTC/USD.

Bitcoin briefly dropped below $114,600 amid the ongoing distribution of thousands of BTC to exchanges by Galaxy Digital. 

The event saw mass liquidations of over $500 million in 24 hours, and forms the latest chapter in the story of roughly 80,000 BTC, which last moved onchain 14 years ago.

Bitcoin sell-off still underway!#GalaxyDigital deposited another 2,850 $BTC($330.44M) to exchanges 11 minutes ago.https://t.co/lD8tgkC4Pyhttps://t.co/T3wOpRSbnw pic.twitter.com/eJ4pEvDvOQ

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) July 25, 2025

“The Bitcoin price has stalled ever since those coins started moving,” popular trader Daan Crypto Trades observed in part of ongoing X commentary.

BTC/USDT perpetual contract 2-hour chart. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/X

With the market still in flux, preliminary signals are nonetheless emerging from chart data. RSI, which collapsed to just 6/100 on 15-minute timeframes during the first phase of the sell-off, is already printing higher lows while price makes lower lows.

“I have never seen $btc this oversold. Never. This is beyond oversold,” fellow trading account Crypto Analyst added on the data.

BTC/USD 15-minute chart with RSI data. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The hourly chart continues to hover around the 30/100 “oversold” barrier, tentatively offering higher lows.

”Time to watch” for BTC traders

Continuing, popular trader Skew had some potential good news for bulls. Mass capitulation, he noted, had not yet appeared, potentially aiding the rebound.

“I see the current state of the market as cautionary more than panic,” he told X followers.

“Panic often has volume & considerable volatility which we dont have currently. Time to watch for sure though.” 

$BTC
Furthermore this price decline has been led by market selling on spot exchanges

hence why toxic flow is promoted in this environment
- the twap shorting into price

change in this flow will come from two things
- absorption of market selling
- change from net short… https://t.co/BCKMYpTjrH pic.twitter.com/q1yuFAGvAc

— Skew Δ (@52kskew) July 25, 2025

Skew suggested that market absorption of the spot supply is a key factor in halting the bleed, adding that $117,000 is now an important target.

The latest data from monitoring resource CoinGlass shows bid support in place at $114,500, with a cloud of asks overhead extending up to $118,500.

BTC liquidation heatmap (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.