Polymarket said on April 6, 2026 that it is replacing bridged USDC.e with a new collateral token, Polymarket USD, across all prediction markets on the platform. The token is backed 1:1 by USDC and issued directly by Polymarket. It is not being introduced as a speculative asset, but as infrastructure for collateral and settlement inside the trading venue.
The token transition comes with a broader exchange upgrade under CTF Exchange V2. According to the company, the rebuilt system includes a simplified order structure, faster order matching, lower gas costs, support for EIP-1271 signatures for smart contract wallets and account abstraction, builder codes for onchain order attribution, and revised fee collection and distribution logic.
Frontend users will see automatic wrapping
For regular users, the migration is expected to require little manual work. Funds held on the platform as USDC or USDC.e will be wrapped into Polymarket USD through the frontend after a one-time approval. Polymarket said the goal is to keep the transition simple for everyday market participants.
The situation is different for API traders, bot operators, and developers. They need to update to the latest CLOB-Client SDK, which is available in Typescript, Python, and Go. Users operating outside the frontend will need to call the wrap() function on the Collateral Onramp contract to convert their funds manually.
Open orders will be canceled during maintenance
Polymarket said all open orders will be canceled during a short maintenance window tied to the cutover. The company plans to give at least one week of notice before the switch, and expects the full rollout to take two to three weeks from the date of the announcement. A dedicated developer channel on the Polymarket Discord is being used for early testing access and migration support, with a full API changelog and SDK guide still to come.
The change follows Polymarket’s earlier 2026 partnership with Circle for native USDC infrastructure, which set the basis for moving away from bridged assets. Community discussion quickly turned to POLY, the platform’s long-rumored governance token, but the company drew a clear line between the two topics. The announcement does not include new details on POLY governance or airdrop timing. Polymarket’s CMO had said in October 2025 that a POLY airdrop was planned, contingent on a strong U.S. relaunch.