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pUSD (Polymarket USD) is the collateral token used for all trading on Polymarket. It’s a standard ERC-20 token on Polygon, backed by USDC. The smart contract — which enables the withdrawal functionality — enforces the backing. No algorithmic peg, no fractional reserve.
Day to day, nothing changes. You load funds, see a balance, trade, and withdraw. pUSD is the technical settlement layer underneath the same experience you’re used to.

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Why pUSD

The protocol settles all trading activity in native USDC, providing a more capital efficient, scalable, and institutionally aligned settlement standard as the platform continues to grow. pUSD is a standard ERC-20 wrapper that represents a USDC claim. Wrapping and unwrapping are enforced onchain by the CollateralOnramp and CollateralOfframp contracts.

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Key facts

Token standardERC-20
NetworkPolygon mainnet
Decimals6
BackingUSDC (enforced onchain)
TransferableYes — standard ERC-20
pUSD is designed to function within Polymarket. There are no current plans to list it on external exchanges. See the Contracts page for all collateral-related contract addresses.

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Wrapping — USDC.e → pUSD

Use the CollateralOnramp to wrap USDC.e into pUSD. 
function wrap(address _asset, address _to, uint256 _amount) external
Parameters
  • _asset — address of the asset being wrapped. Must be USDC.e.
  • _to — recipient of the minted pUSD. Does not have to be msg.sender.
  • _amount — amount to wrap, in USDC.e base units (6 decimals).
Requirements
  • The caller must first approve the CollateralOnramp contract (not the pUSD token) to spend USDC.e.
  • Reverts with OnlyUnpaused() if the admin has paused USDC.e.

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Example

import {
  createWalletClient,
  createPublicClient,
  http,
  parseAbi,
  parseUnits,
} from "viem";
import { polygon } from "viem/chains";
import { privateKeyToAccount } from "viem/accounts";

const account = privateKeyToAccount(process.env.PRIVATE_KEY as `0x${string}`);
const walletClient = createWalletClient({ account, chain: polygon, transport: http() });
const publicClient = createPublicClient({ chain: polygon, transport: http() });

const ONRAMP = "0x93070a847efEf7F70739046A929D47a521F5B8ee" as const;
const USDCE = "0x2791Bca1f2de4661ED88A30C99A7a9449Aa84174" as const; // USDC.e on Polygon

const amount = parseUnits("100", 6); // 100 USDC.e

// 1. Approve the Onramp to spend your USDC.e
const approveHash = await walletClient.writeContract({
  address: USDCE,
  abi: parseAbi(["function approve(address spender, uint256 amount) returns (bool)"]),
  functionName: "approve",
  args: [ONRAMP, amount],
});
await publicClient.waitForTransactionReceipt({ hash: approveHash });

// 2. Wrap USDC.e → pUSD
const wrapHash = await walletClient.writeContract({
  address: ONRAMP,
  abi: parseAbi(["function wrap(address _asset, address _to, uint256 _amount)"]),
  functionName: "wrap",
  args: [USDCE, account.address, amount],
});
await publicClient.waitForTransactionReceipt({ hash: wrapHash });

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Unwrapping — pUSD → USDC.e

Use the CollateralOfframp to unwrap pUSD back into USDC.e. 
function unwrap(address _asset, address _to, uint256 _amount) external
Parameters
  • _asset — asset you want to receive. Must be USDC.e.
  • _to — recipient of the underlying asset.
  • _amount — amount of pUSD to unwrap (6 decimals).
Requirements
  • The caller must first approve the CollateralOfframp contract to spend their pUSD.
  • Same pause gate as the Onramp.

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Next steps

Contracts

All Polymarket contract addresses and audits

Bridge

Deposit from other chains — auto-wraps to pUSD