The move comes as crypto prediction markets continue to rise in popularity, seeing record volumes.
Circle announced on Thursday, Feb. 5, that it has partnered with Polymarket, the largest on-chain prediction market by trading volume, to provide its U.S. dollar stablecoin settlement infrastructure.
The partnership focuses on integrating Circle’s stablecoin USDC as the primary collateral currency for trading on Polymarket. The prediction market, which operates on Polygon, currently uses Polygon Bridged USDC (USDC.E), but will move to native USDC “in the coming months.”
With a supply of $70.77 billion, Circle’s USDC is the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization after Tether’s USDT.
Circle said the partnership is focused on making settlement on Polymarket more “institutionally aligned” as trading activity increases. Over the past 24 hours, Polymarket processed $113 million in trades, with total value locked on the platform at $337.5 million, according to DefiLlama.
“Circle has built some of the most critical infrastructure in crypto, and partnering with them is an important step in strengthening prediction markets,” said Shayne Coplan, founder and CEO of Polymarket. “Using USDC supports a consistent, dollar-denominated settlement standard that enhances market integrity and reliability as participation on the platform continues to grow.”
Record-Breaking Growth
The partnership comes as the prediction market sector continues to grow, attracting more users and liquidity. The top-three prediction marketplaces, Polymarket, Kalshi and Opinion, have all seen record-breaking monthly volumes over the past three months. In January, total TVL across crypto-focused prediction markets reached a new high of more than $550 million, The Defiant reported.
The news comes after Polymarket began rolling out trading fees for the first time earlier this year. That same week Polymarket also expanded its institutional reach, becoming the exclusive prediction market partner of the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones.
Last month, the platform generated about $2.6 million in fees and $1.6 million in revenue, according to DefiLlama. In the first few days of February, fees and revenue have already reached roughly $708,000 and $459,000, respectively.
Source: https://thedefiant.io/news/defi/circle-partners-with-polymarket-to-integrate-native-udsc
