SoFi founder Mike Cagney’s Figure Technologies has announced the launch of Figure Markets, marking the emergence of its first “everything marketplace.” The initiative promises a seamless trading experience for a variety of blockchain-based assets, from cryptocurrencies and stocks to alternative investments. With over $60 million in Series A funding led by big names like Jump Crypto, Pantera Capital, and Lightspeed Faction, Figure Markets aims to challenge the existing market.
This funding round, which was characterized by oversubscription, highlights the market’s appetite for innovative financial solutions. Including an industry stalwart like Dan Morehead, founder and managing partner of Pantera Capital, on the Figure Markets Board of Directors further strengthens the credibility and ambition of the project.
In 2018, Mike Cagney and his wife June Ou co-founded Figure Technologies, a fintech startup specializing in creating and packaging financial assets. By 2019, Figure Technologies had successfully raised over $225 million in funding and achieved a valuation of $1.2 billion. Entering 2020, the company had funded a total of more than $1 billion in loans and serviced securitizations backed by Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC), including the largest HELOC-backed bond issuance in more than a decade. started providing. In August 2021, Figure Technologies announced its intention to merge with mortgage lender Homebridge Financial Services, marking a pivotal step in its expansion and influence within the financial sector.
According to Mike Cagney, CEO of Figure Markets, this financial injection is evidence of the company’s vision to leverage blockchain technology to reshape capital markets.
“Figure Technologies is seeing real benefits from using blockchain for its lending and capital markets operations. It’s ironic that the largest cryptocurrency exchanges are not based on blockchain. We aim to change that,” says Mike Cagney, CEO of Figure Markets.
Figure Technologies is not new to the blockchain space. Leveraging blockchain for lending and capital markets operations has already shown tangible benefits. We now aim to broaden the application of this technology to cover a wider spectrum of assets. In an industry where the most important cryptocurrency exchanges operate off-blockchain, Figure Markets plans to introduce a paradigm shift.
A notable innovation at the core of Figure Markets is the introduction of a new decentralized custodial cryptocurrency exchange and blockchain-based security marketplace based on multi-party computing (MPC) technology. This technology addresses the Achilles heel of centralized exchanges: the risk of a single point of failure. MPC technology not only enhances security by distributing private keys across a decentralized network, but also reduces counterparty risk by ensuring users retain control of their assets.
figure marketaims to leverage blockchain and financial products expertise under the leadership of Cagney and June Ou. We plan to utilize Provenance Blockchain to develop both domestic and overseas decentralized markets for cryptocurrencies and securities.
With over $30 billion in real-world assets already recorded on the Provenance Blockchain, Figure Markets’ technology-based picks appear solid.
The market envisioned by Figure Markets is not limited to trading. It aims to provide an array of financial services, including lending and borrowing options, across a variety of asset classes. This integrated platform seeks to provide investors with liquidity, flexibility and efficiency while challenging traditional market structures.
Industry leaders have praised Figure Markets’ innovative use of MPC technology and its potential to create a secure and efficient future for digital assets. The belief that blockchain is the driver of the next wave of financial innovation is entrenched among Figure Markets’ backers, and the initiative is seen as a pioneer in bringing real-world assets to the blockchain.
Figure Markets stands on the cusp of potentially disrupting the financial markets with its vision of being a “market for everything.” The success of this venture could not only validate the utility of blockchain in transforming financial services, but also establish a new standard for how assets are traded, managed and conceptualized in the digital age.
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