Circle has announced a major partnership with Polymarket that will replace the platform’s current bridged USDC.e collateral with native USDC on Polygon in the coming months.

The move eliminates bridge risk, reduces friction, and delivers instant, 1:1 redeemable dollar settlement for the billions of dollars in predictions already flowing through Polymarket every month.

Polymarket currently runs entirely on Bridged USDC (USDC.e) on Polygon. Deposits from Ethereum, Solana, Arbitrum, Base and elsewhere are automatically swapped into USDC.e for trading, order placement, and settlement. While functional, bridged tokens introduce extra steps, higher costs, and well-known security vulnerabilities — a pain point the industry has been trying to eliminate for years.

Native USDC, issued directly by Circle’s regulated affiliates, removes that middleman entirely. It is redeemable 1:1 for U.S. dollars at any time and offers the capital efficiency and institutional-grade reliability that growing platforms demand.

As the platform scales toward institutional participation and faces increasing regulatory scrutiny worldwide, moving to native USDC aligns it with the same settlement standards expected in traditional finance.

The partnership also reflects a broader industry trend: platforms like Aptos and others made similar bridged-to-native USDC upgrades in 2025 to improve liquidity and reduce settlement delays.

Read More:
https://www.circle.com/pressroom/circle-and-polymarket-partner-to-strengthen-onchain-financial-markets