Polymarket Deploys V2 Upgrade on April 22 with pUSD and New Trading Infrastructure

TL;DR

• Polymarket will deploy its V2 upgrade on April 22, requiring a full migration as V1 shuts down permanently after a brief downtime of about one hour.
• The overhaul introduces a new collateral token, pUSD, backed 1:1 by USDC, alongside redesigned smart contracts and trading infrastructure.
• A $5 million bug bounty and multiple audits support the rollout, reinforcing confidence as the platform scales amid rising prediction market activity.
  

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Polymarket’sV2 overhaul goes live next week, marking a structural shift in how the decentralized prediction market operates. The update affects its trading engine, collateral system, and developer integrations, reflecting the platform’spush to handle higher volumes while improving efficiency and transparency.

The core change is the introduction of Polymarket USD (pUSD), a new collateral token that replaces USDC.e on Polygon. The asset maintains a 1:1 backing with USDC, verified onchain, aligning with broader industry trends toward standardized and transparent collateral systems.

The upgrade also replaces the existing trading engine with new CTF Exchange V2 contracts. These remove legacy components such as nonce and feeRateBps, simplifying order structure. Fees are now calculated at execution, rather than embedded in orders, which reduces complexity for traders and market makers.

All open limit orders are cleared during the transition window, scheduled around 11 a.m. UTC on April 22. Despite this reset, user funds and positions remain intact. Frontend users experience a mostly automated migration, while API participants must update integrations, including changes to contract addresses and signing formats.

Polymarket supports the rollout with audited, open-source contracts reviewed by Cantina and Quantstamp. A $5 million bug bounty program is active, targeting critical vulnerabilities and signaling a strong emphasis on security as usage grows.

Developers face a stricter transition. API users must upgrade SDKs and adapt to a new EIP-712 domain version. While a hot-swap mechanism refreshes many client connections automatically, manual integrations require direct adjustments to remain functional after the upgrade.

Testing access is already available through a staging environment, allowing traders and builders to interact with V2 before it becomes the default system.

Polymarket has seen rapid growth, with transaction counts exceeding 192 million in March. This expansion reflects increasing demand for onchain prediction markets, especially as crypto-native platforms compete with traditional betting and forecasting systems.

The V2 rollout positions Polymarket to scale more efficiently while maintaining a transparent and verifiable infrastructure. If the transition proceeds smoothly, it may strengthen the case for decentralized prediction markets as a viable alternative to centralized platforms.