On August 5, a special "new face" entered the U.S. cryptocurrency market - Figure Technology Solutions (FTS). This fintech company, founded by SoFi co-founder and former CEO Mike Cagney, has submitted an S-1 filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), officially starting the listing process. Different from the traditional financial institutions' conventional approach, Figure has been blockchain-native since its inception, using blockchain to reshape the financial paradigm of home loans and crypto-backed loans.

Mike Cagney once led SoFi to a wave of disruption in the fintech industry, and now he aims to once again overturn the business model on which traditional banks rely, this time using blockchain. He stated, "The funding validates our vision of redefining the capital markets using blockchain technology, and we are also realizing true benefits by incorporating blockchain into their lending and capital markets operations."

Starting from Home Loans: America's Largest Non-Bank HELOC Provider

In the home loan market, Figure has directly hit the Achilles' heel of traditional banks with speed and transparency. In the past, applying for a HELOC loan could take weeks or even months, but on Figure's platform, users only need to apply 100% online, get approved in as fast as 5 minutes, and receive funding within 5 days.

So far, Figure has helped over 200,000 households unlock $16 billion in home equity, rising to become one of America's largest non-bank HELOC providers. What's even more intriguing is that this is not achieved through "simplified underwriting" for speed but thanks to Figure's in-house developed Provenance blockchain. This is a public, PoS blockchain based on the Cosmos SDK, supporting instant finality that once confirmed, cannot be rolled back, ensuring the security and transparency of loan settlements.

Provenance not only establishes a standardized, tamper-proof on-chain record for each loan but also directly integrates with Figure's proprietary Figure Connect - an on-chain private capital markets platform. Through it, loan originators and investors can match, price, and settle on-chain, compressing the entire process from traditional months to days, nearly redefining the efficiency of private credit circulation.

Cryptocurrency Collateralized Loans: Embracing HODL and Liquidity

If HELOC has helped Figure establish itself in the traditional mortgage field, then Cryptocurrency Collateralized Loans are its way of making a mark in the digital asset race.

In this business, customers can use Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) as collateral to borrow cash at up to 75% LTV (Loan-to-Value ratio), with interest rates as low as 8.91% (50% LTV), and no credit score requirements.

All collateral assets are held in a decentralized, segregated Multiparty Computation (MPC) custody wallet, allowing customers to view on-chain addresses directly, ensuring that funds are never misappropriated. This means that even if you are using BTC or ETH as collateral for a loan, you can securely continue to "HODL," while the cash on hand can be used to repay debts, buy a house, renovate, or even directly increase your holdings of more crypto assets.

This design is particularly popular during bull markets—investors can release liquidity without selling their assets, while retaining the potential for asset appreciation. During bear markets, it allows investors to obtain emergency funds through collateralization, avoiding forced liquidation.

Actively Engaging in the Crypto Community: RWA and Stablecoin Dual-Drive

Figure's ambitions go far beyond mortgages and crypto loans. Leveraging the underlying technology of the Provenance blockchain, in the $277.4 billion tokenized private credit market, Figure has cumulatively issued loans totaling $13 billion, with an active loan amount of $11 billion, a utilization rate exceeding 84%. On the rwa.xyz website, Figure is prominently positioned as the leader in the private credit category. Whether it's mortgage assets or private credit, Figure can digitize and program them and achieve standardized issuance and trading on-chain. These on-chain assets are naturally compatible with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, allowing funds that were once locked in the traditional financial system to circulate, collateralize, and reuse globally, blurring the boundaries between TradFi and DeFi.

Simultaneously, the YLDS stablecoin introduced by Figure Markets has become the world's first SEC-approved interest-bearing stablecoin, pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, with interest calculated at SOFR-50bp, yielding an annualized return of approximately 3.79%. YLDS not only boasts impeccable compliance but also provides users with stable returns that can be used for payments, cross-border settlements, collateralized financing, and other multi-scenario applications. This "RWA + Stablecoin" combination not only locks in real assets and the digital asset market's dual growth for Figure but also positions it at the gateway to the next multi-trillion-dollar market.

Capital Structure and IPO Preparation

Within a few short years, Figure has successfully completed multiple rounds of fundraising, with investors including DCM Ventures, DST Global, Ribbit Capital, Morgan Creek Digital, and other well-known institutions. It has also secured billions of dollars in debt financing from firms such as Jefferies and JPMorgan Chase. According to market sources, the IPO underwriters for this round include the presence of top Wall Street investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.

Prior to this, Figure restructured its internal architecture, integrating the lending entity Figure Lending LLC into the Figure Technology Solutions brand and brought in a senior management team with extensive regulatory and corporate governance experience to pave the way for the IPO.

Summary

By 2025, perhaps it will be remembered as the year of coins and stocks. From the emergence of various "altcoin versions of microstrategies" to CRCL creating a post-IPO 10x frenzy in a month, and the eagerness of top crypto companies like Kraken, the convergence of the capital market and the on-chain market is entering deep waters.

Today, everyone is waiting for the true RWA whale - an entity that can bring trillions of real-world assets onto the blockchain and redefine the market landscape like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Figure is sprinting full speed towards this position, and its next steps may very well become a part of history.

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