Leading prediction market platform, Polymarket, will undergo a substantial update in coming weeks that will include a new order book and the introduction of Polymarket’s own collateral currency called Polymarket USD, the company announced April 7.
Polymarket has described this update as the platform’s “biggest infrastructure change since launch,” which the platform says will result in “faster execution, lower gas, and a cleaner foundation going forward.”
“We’ve heard your feedback, and we’re excited to announce Polymarket is getting a full exchange upgrade,” Polymarket said through its official X / Twitter account.
Over the next few weeks, we’re rolling out a rebuilt trading engine, upgraded smart contracts, and a new collateral token, Polymarket USD.
Polymarket Polymarket plans to gradually roll out the update over a period of several weeks and expects the process to be smooth for most users, although it will require the cancellation of all open orders. The platform said it will give users several days’ warning before closing all unfulfilled orders.
More advanced users though, such as those using trading bots or accessing Polymarket’s API, will notice more of a disruption and will be required to update their software development kits to match the new trading infrastructure.
Polymarket USD will replace the platform’s existing bridged collateral token. Some users may also need to bridge their USDC (or USDC.e) to Polymarket’s new token.
Related: Polymarket Expands Into Stocks and Commodities With Pyth-Powered Pricing
Until now, Polymarket has used a bridged version of Circle’s USDC running on Ethereum layer-2 network, Polygon (Polymarket also runs on Polygon, hence the name).
Polymarket’s new collateral token, which is backed 1:1 by USDC, marks an important change, potentially allowing it to offer higher yield rates for users holding their assets on the platform and opening up significant new sources of revenue.
There’s also hopes among Polymarket users that the launch of the new collateral token signals Polymarket’s planned native token POLY, might not be too far away.
Related: Kalshi and Polymarket Each Eye $20B Valuations as Prediction Markets Hit $18B Monthly Volume
Polymarket’s Chief Marketing Officer, Matthew Modabber, confirmed the platform’s plans to launch their own token last October, saying during an interview on the Degenz Live podcast that “there will be a token, there will be an airdrop.”
“We could have launched a token whenever we wanted, and it’s just how thorough we want to be about it. We want it to be a token with true utility, longevity, and to be around forever, right? That’s what we expect from ourselves, and that’s what I think everyone in the space expects from us,” Modabber added.
On February 4, Polymarket’s parent company Blockratize filed trademark applications for the words POLY and $POLY, adding further to expectations the platform is set to launch its native token soon.
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