Circle partners with Polymarket to migrate prediction market settlements from bridged USDC to USDC stablecoin.
Circle Internet Group has announced a partnership with Polymarket to upgrade its trading settlement infrastructure. The platform would be transitioning from bridged USDC (USDC.e) on Polygon to Circle-issued native USDC. This move is aimed to provide faster and capital-efficient settlements with regulated financial standards. The migration is expected to be over in the next couple of months.
Polymarket Moves From Bridged to Native USDC
Polymarket currently uses bridged USDC (USDC.e) as collateral for all trades in Polygon. This bridged token relies on cross-chain connections, which can be slower and less efficient. Native USDC, issued by Circle’s regulated affiliates, is redeemable on a one-to-one basis for US dollars.
Circle 🤝 @Polymarket
Circle has partnered with Polymarket, the world’s largest prediction market, to support the next evolution of onchain financial markets.
This partnership focuses on:
→ Bringing transparent, fully-reserved stablecoin infrastructure to prediction markets… pic.twitter.com/5lNfUPG3xu— Circle (@circle) February 5, 2026
Co-Founder and CEO of Circle, Jeremy Allaire, stressed that the aim of Circle’s platform is to transfer money as quickly as the internet. He added that Polymarket is a combination of the quick response of the market and the information flow.
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By adding native USDC, Circle aims to improve the user experience while offering a reliable dollar-backed settlement option. This step is in line with Circle’s overall aim of creating regulated and transparent financial systems.
Shayne Coplan, CEO of Polymarket, said it is beneficial that Circle is partnering with Polymarket to strengthen the reliability of prediction markets. Having a consistent, dollar denominated standard of settlement is a benefit of using native USDC.
This approach will enhance the integrity of the market while promoting growth as more users participate on Polymarket. The platform is looking at the long run and combining trusted financial infrastructure with trusted financial institutions.
Broader Impact on Digital Asset Markets
Circle joins the likes of the other major financial institutions such as Intercontinental Exchange to support regulated and high integrity markets. This collaboration is a sign of adoption of payment stablecoins in digital financial systems.
For example, by using native USDC, Polymarket can reduce the dependence on bridged assets, can reduce transaction complexity and can offer faster transactions. This also brings traditional finance standards into the trading platforms that are native to the internet, bringing trust among institutional and retail traders.
The partnership comes with more and more momentum in the crypto space towards the integration of regulated stablecoins. Native USDC has better transparency, scalability, and capital efficiency than bridged alternatives.
As Polymarket expands, these advantages are likely to appeal to more traders and institutions that are interested in secure and predictable systems for settlements. The transition might also lure other platforms to adopt regulated stablecoins for on-chain markets.
In addition, Circle’s native USDC offers support for regulatory compliance as well as mitigating risks associated with cross-chain bridge usage. The one-to-one redeemability of the token ensures to the users that their holdings are backed by real U.S. dollars which adds a sense of confidence among the market participants.
Overall, this collaboration between Circle and Polymarket is a major move towards the adoption of stablecoins in prediction markets. By migrating to native USDC, Polymarket brings itself in line with modern financial infrastructure without losing transparency or efficiency.