Polymarket is replacing its bridged collateral with a native USDC-backed stablecoin and rebuilding its order book from the ground up.

Polymarket announced what it called its “biggest change to date,” introducing a native stablecoin and a completely rebuilt trading engine as the prediction market platform prepares for its next phase of growth.

The centerpiece is Polymarket USD, a collateral token backed 1:1 by Circle’s USDC that replaces the USDC.e bridged token currently used on Polygon. The shift away from a bridged asset gives the platform more flexibility, including the potential to generate yield on collateral deposits and build new revenue channels beyond trading fees.

The exchange overhaul pairs a redesigned order book with upgraded smart contracts, promising faster execution, tighter spreads, and lower operational overhead. The new stack also supports EIP-1271 signatures, letting smart contract wallets interact natively with the platform for the first time. All existing order books will be cleared during the transition, with traders given at least a few days’ notice before open orders are cancelled.

This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.

For most users, the migration should be seamless, with the frontend handling token conversion automatically. Automated traders who run bots will need to update their SDKs to work with the new order book structure.

Polymarket also confirmed plans for a native governance token called POLY, though no launch date has been set. Prediction market odds on the platform itself put the probability of a token launch before May at just 11%, suggesting users expect a longer runway before that piece of the roadmap materializes.