Author: KKK
On August 19, Figure Technology Solutions (FTS)—the fintech company co-founded by SoFi's former CEO Mike Cagney—has publicly submitted an IPO application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), planning to trade under the code FIGR on NASDAQ, officially starting the IPO process. Unlike the conventional approaches of traditional financial institutions, Figure has been built on a blockchain framework from its inception, reshaping the financial paradigms of home loans and crypto-backed loans with blockchain.
Mike Cagney led SoFi to create a wave in the internet finance sector; now, he aims to disrupt the business models on which traditional banks rely once again using blockchain. He stated, 'The funding validates our vision of redefining capital markets using blockchain technology, and we are also realizing true benefits by adopting blockchain in our lending and capital market businesses.'
Starting from home loans: the largest non-bank HELOC provider in the U.S.
In the home loan market, Figure directly hit the traditional banks' soft spots with speed and transparency. Previously, applying for a HELOC loan could take weeks or even months, but on Figure's platform, users can obtain approval in as fast as 5 minutes through a 100% online application and receive funding within 5 days.
As of now, Figure has helped over 200,000 households release $16 billion in home equity, soaring to become one of the largest non-bank HELOC providers in the U.S. Even more intriguingly, all of this has not come from 'simplified reviews' in exchange for speed, but rather from the Provenance blockchain developed by Figure. This is a public, PoS blockchain based on the Cosmos SDK, supporting instant finality, meaning that once confirmed, it cannot be rolled back, ensuring the safety and transparency of loan settlements.
Provenance not only establishes standardized, tamper-proof on-chain records for each loan but also directly connects to Figure's own Figure Connect—a native on-chain private capital market platform. Through it, loan initiators and investors can complete matching, pricing, and settlement on-chain, compressing the entire process from traditional months to days, almost redefining the efficiency of private credit circulation.
Crypto-backed loans: HODL while gaining liquidity
If HELOC has allowed Figure to establish a foothold in the traditional home loan sector, then crypto-backed loans are its way of wielding its sword in the digital asset arena.
In this business, customers can use Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) as collateral to borrow cash at a maximum of 75% LTV (loan-to-value ratio), with the interest rate as low as 8.91% (50% LTV), and no credit score required.
All collateral assets will be stored in decentralized, isolated multi-party computation (MPC) custody wallets, allowing customers to directly view on-chain addresses to ensure that funds are never misappropriated. This means that even if you are using BTC or ETH as collateral for a loan, you can safely continue to 'hold your coins for appreciation,' while the cash in hand can be used to pay off debts, buy houses, renovate, or even directly increase your holdings of more crypto assets.
This design is particularly popular in bull markets—investors can unlock liquidity without having to sell at a loss while retaining the potential for asset appreciation; in bear markets, they can obtain emergency funds through collateral to avoid forced liquidation.
Actively integrating into the crypto space: Dual-driven by RWA and stablecoins
Figure's ambitions extend far beyond home loans and crypto loans. Leveraging the underlying technology of the Provenance blockchain, Figure has issued a cumulative loan amount of $13 billion in a total tokenized private credit market of $27.74 billion, with active loans reaching as high as $11 billion and a utilization rate exceeding 84%. On the rwa.xyz website, it can be seen that Figure firmly ranks first in the private credit category. Whether it's home loan assets or private credit, Figure can digitize, program, and realize standardized issuance and trading on-chain. These on-chain assets are inherently compatible with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, allowing funds that were originally locked in the traditional financial system to circulate, collateralize, and be reused globally, completely blurring the boundaries between TradFi and DeFi.
Meanwhile, the YLDS stablecoin launched by Figure Markets has become the world's first interest-bearing stablecoin approved by the SEC, pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar and calculated interest based on SOFR-50bp, with an annualized yield of about 3.79%. YLDS not only has impeccable compliance but also brings stable returns to users, applicable for various scenarios such as payments, cross-border settlements, and collateral financing. This combination of 'RWA + stablecoins' not only locks in dual increments in the real asset and digital asset markets for Figure but also positions it at the entrance to the next multi-trillion-dollar market.
Capital layout and IPO preparation
In just a few years, Figure has completed multiple rounds of financing, with investors including renowned institutions such as DCM Ventures, DST Global, Ribbit Capital, and Morgan Creek Digital, and has also secured billions of dollars in debt credit from Jefferies, JPMorgan, and others. According to market news, leading Wall Street investment banks, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, have also appeared in the underwriting lineup for this IPO.
Prior to this, Figure had reorganized its internal structure, integrating the loan entity Figure Lending LLC into the Figure Technology Solutions brand system, and introduced an executive team with rich regulatory and corporate governance experience to pave the way for its IPO.
Financial performance is equally eye-catching. In the first half of 2025, the company's revenue reached $191 million, a year-on-year increase of 22.4%; net profit was $29 million, a significant turnaround from a loss of $13 million during the same period last year. This not only indicates that Figure has emerged from the loss cycle of its initial expansion but also shows that the market demand for blockchain lending and financial services is growing rapidly.
Figure emphasizes in its prospectus that its core advantage lies in injecting vitality into long-term illiquid markets through blockchain. By tokenizing assets, the company hopes to reduce financing costs and break down traditional financial barriers. After the IPO, CEO Cagney will retain majority voting power to ensure that the strategic direction remains in his hands. This dual-class share structure can indeed safeguard long-term vision, but it has also sparked discussions about shareholder rights.
It is worth noting that as early as 2021, Figure completed a $200 million financing round with a valuation as high as $3.2 billion. Although the valuation for this IPO has not yet been disclosed, analysts are generally optimistic about its market prospects: the profitable Figure has positioned itself at the intersection of fintech and blockchain, seizing the best window for capital pursuit.
Cagney stated in the IPO declaration: 'The value of blockchain far exceeds the disruption of finance. By putting previously illiquid assets and historical data on-chain, we can inject unprecedented vitality into the market. This IPO is just a small step in the panoramic view of blockchain entering the capital market.'
Summary
The year 2025 may be remembered as the year of crypto stocks. From the emergence of various 'shanzhai coin versions of micro-strategies' to CRCL creating a 10-fold crazy myth just one month after its IPO, and the top crypto companies like Kraken gearing up, the integration of capital markets and on-chain markets is entering deeper waters.
Today, everyone is waiting for the true RWA whale—a presence that can bring trillion-level real assets onto the blockchain and redefine the market landscape like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Figure is sprinting towards this position at full speed, and its next step may become part of history.
