Cboe has launched its first prediction market contracts tied to the performance of the S&P 500, expanding its derivatives business with a new suite of binary options products. Summary Cboe has launched its first prediction market contracts tied to the Mini S&P 500 Index through its new Cboe Predicts platform. The binary options products are available on Interactive Brokers, while Charles Schwab plans to add access in the coming months. Cboe said the contracts will trade as security options under the existing regulatory framework for U.S. listed options. Cboe Global Markets said in a Tuesday press release that its new platform, Cboe Predicts, debuted with binary option contracts linked to the Mini-S&P 500 Index, or XSP. The contracts allow traders to take a yes-or-no position on where the index will finish and are structured at one-tenth the size of the standard S&P 500 index. The products trade under the ticker symbols XSPBW and XSPBX and are currently available through Interactive Brokers. Cboe said Charles Schwab plans to add access to the contracts in the coming months. Cboe expands event-based trading products Cboe said the contracts build on its existing lineup of S&P 500 index options, including same-day expiry SPX 0DTE products that let traders take positions on where the benchmark index will close by the end of a trading session. “Cboe’s S&P 500 options suite has long provided traders with flexibility to define their outcomes through traditional options strategies. With Cboe Predicts, we are expanding that choice by offering simple ‘yes-or-no’ payout event contracts, supported by dedicated educational resources designed to help customers participate more confidently and responsibly.” – JJ Kinahan, head of retail expansion and alternative investment products at Cboe. Cboe said its prediction market contracts are structured as security options and will trade under the same regulatory framework that governs U.S.-listed options products. Prediction markets attract financial firms Several financial and crypto trading platforms have introduced prediction market offerings over the past year as interest in event-based contracts has grown. Robinhood, Interactive Brokers and Coinbase have all launched products in the category, while platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi remain among the most prominent operators in the sector. The regulatory treatment of event contracts remains subject to dispute between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and several state authorities. The launch follows reports that Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has directed employees to develop a standalone prediction markets application called Arena. The New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing two employees familiar with the project, that the app would initially use a points-based system instead of real-money wagering and could later introduce monetary betting. The newspaper reported that Meta intends to keep Arena separate from Facebook and Instagram, although the company could use its existing platforms to direct users toward the service. Meta reported 3.56 billion daily active users across its family of apps as of March.
