Polymarket will undergo its most significant infrastructure overhaul in its history, centered around its native stablecoin called Polymarket USD, which is pegged 1:1 to USDC from Circle. This replaces the bridged USDC.e token that has been operating on Polygon since the platform's launch, removing a layer of dependency on third-party bridges that has quietly been present under every trade.

This overhaul goes beyond just the collateral layer. Polymarket is completely rebuilding its core matching engine through the new CTF Exchange V2 smart contract system, updating its centralized limit order book, and adding support for EIP-1271 signatures so that smart contract wallets can interact natively with the platform for the first time. The last point is more important than it sounds: it means that institutional-grade custody solutions can finally connect without temporary workarounds.

The timing is deliberate. Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, recently invested $600 million directly into Polymarket, and this infrastructure push appears to indicate that the company is restructuring to justify its valuation. Competition in the on-chain prediction market is becoming increasingly fierce, and controlling its own collateral rather than relying on bridged tokens is a significant fortress to build.

A governance token called POLY has also been confirmed, although no launch date has been announced yet.

This complete upgrade is expected to go live within 2 to 3 weeks of the announcement, with Polymarket committed to providing at least one week’s notice before the transition. Existing liquidity providers will need to re-sign orders using the new data structure, so this transition will not be entirely without hurdles for active participants.

This is a rapidly evolving prediction market.