Polymarket to Replace Bridged USDC.e with Circle’s Native USDC for Settlements
Polymarket and Circle Internet Financial announced a multi-month migration of Polymarket’s settlement collateral from bridged USDC (USDC.e) on Polygon to Circle-issued native USDC. The migration removes reliance on cross-chain bridges — which Polymarket says are less capital-efficient and add cost and attack surface — and establishes a dollar-denominated settlement standard redeemable one-for-one through Circle’s regulated entities. CEO Shayne Coplan framed the change as a step toward stronger market integrity and consistent fiat-linked settlement as the platform scales. The move follows Polymarket’s rapid growth (notable recent monthly volumes) and commercial expansion, including a multi-year exclusive partnership with Major League Soccer, and mirrors broader industry shifts toward institutional-grade stablecoin settlement to reduce friction and regulatory risk. Primary keywords: Polymarket, native USDC, Circle, USDC.e, settlement. Secondary keywords included naturally: bridged stablecoin, Polygon, prediction market, dollar-denominated settlement.
Neutral
The change targets settlement infrastructure rather than a token protocol update, so direct price pressure on USDC or other tradable tokens is limited. Migrating from USDC.e (bridged) to Circle’s native USDC reduces counterparty and bridge risk, which should improve market confidence and operational reliability for Polymarket users — a constructive development for platform liquidity and usability. In the short term, traders are unlikely to see meaningful price moves for USDC (a stablecoin) because it remains pegged; any transfer-related flows could cause minor, transient on-chain activity (swaps, redemptions) but not sustained volatility. For Polymarket’s native product activity, improved settlement efficiency and institutional-grade rails may attract more volume over time, which could be bullish for platform-native metrics (order flow, liquidity) but does not translate directly into price action for a specific tradable crypto asset. Overall impact on tradable token prices mentioned is neutral: operationally positive for the market infrastructure, but not a catalyst for crypto price appreciation or depreciation.