🏦 Charles Schwab is about to let 35 million retail clients bet on the S&P 500 — and crypto is watching

Charles Schwab, the firm managing $11.8 trillion in customer assets, is working with Cboe Global Markets to launch binary prediction contracts tied to whether the S&P 500 closes above or below a target price. The product is distinct from platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket — instead of covering politics, sports, and pop culture events, Schwab's contracts focus purely on financial benchmarks. A "Plus Zone" feature will pay partial rewards when predictions land close to the final index level, solving the all-or-nothing limitation of standard binary contracts. This follows Schwab's May launch of spot $BTC and $ETH trading for retail clients. The firm with 35 million active brokerage accounts is quietly becoming one of the most comprehensive crypto-adjacent financial platforms in America — and they are building it one product at a time without calling it a crypto play.