Polymarket is getting ready to rebuild the core of its exchange, a shift the team says will be the most significant change in the platform’s history. The upgrade will roll out over the next few weeks and quietly replace the machinery underneath the app without altering how it looks to users.

Compare it to swapping out a car engine while keeping the same exterior. On the surface, the experience should feel familiar, but underneath, nearly everything is being reworked.

“Our Biggest Change to Date: CTF + CLOB v2,” the developers wrote in a public update, outlining what they called an upgrade of “the entire Polymarket exchange stack.”

The new system, known as CTF + CLOB v2, introduces fresh contracts, a redesigned order book, and a different collateral structure. During the transition, trading will briefly pause while systems are migrated over a two- to three-week window.

Polymarket overhaul includes trading exchange upgrade aimed at speed and flexibility

CTF Exchange V2 replaces the current exchange contract with a more streamlined version. The redesign is said to focus on making order handling cleaner and faster, with changes that simplify how trades are structured and executed.

It “optimizes and simplifies the Order struct,” while also improving how orders are matched. The update adds support for “1271 signatures” and introduces “builder codes for onchain order attribution.” It also includes “optimized fee collection and distribution.”

The changes are thought to be relevant for developers running automated strategies or building tools on top of Polymarket. The expectation is that bots and integrations will run more smoothly, with fewer inefficiencies in how trades are processed.

Part of the transition is a new collateral token called Po...