On August 19, blockchain lending company Figure Technology announced that it has filed a Form S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed initial public offering of its Class A common stock.
Founded in 2018, the company has originated over $16 billion in home equity loans cumulatively and plans to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "FIGR." According to Figure Technology's IPO disclosures, its revenue reached $191 million in the first half of 2025, a 22.4% year-over-year increase, with a net profit of $29 million, marking a transition from cumulative losses to sustained profitability.
This IPO aims to raise between $500 million and $1 billion. Company founder Mike Cagney stated that this listing is driven by a favorable policy environment in the cryptocurrency industry and heightened investor interest. Previously, Figure had attempted to go public during the Biden administration but was unsuccessful due to wording issues in its documents.
From HELOC to Open Ecosystem: Figure's Business Evolution and Profit Path
Figure's story begins in late 2017. At that time, SoFi co-founder Mike Cagney left the company due to personal issues and later saw a new opportunity in the blockchain space. He believed that many inefficiencies in the financial system could be reformed through decentralized infrastructure. In 2018, he, along with his wife June Ou and several partners, co-founded Figure, choosing the Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) as its first product, attempting to apply blockchain technology to the most traditional form of consumer lending.
Initially, Figure was a direct-to-consumer lending platform that relied on blockchain to shorten the approval and disbursement processes, significantly improving loan efficiency. As the business matured, the company shifted to a B2B2C model, opening its technology platform to financial institutions. Today, over 168 banks and lenders originate loans on Figure's public chain, Provenance Blockchain. Leveraging this infrastructure, Figure has also achieved several industry "firsts": completing the industry's first securitization of native on-chain consumer loans in 2020, the first AAA-rated securitization transaction in 2023, and launching the third-party HELOC trading platform Figure Connect in 2024, which facilitated $1.3 billion in transaction volume within a year. To date, the company has originated over $16 billion in loans cumulatively, with total on-chain transaction volume exceeding $50 billion.
Figure's main revenue comes from its home equity credit line business, which benefits from rising home prices and homeowners' reluctance to refinance at high interest rates. By using blockchain technology to reduce loan costs and through partnerships with companies like Credit Karma and Guaranteed Rate, the company's loan volume grew by 50% to $5.1 billion in 2024.
Figure's profit model is actually a process of continuous refinement. It generates basic income through platform usage fees, loan origination, and facilitation fees, while also obtaining stable cash flow from loan securitization and sales. Furthermore, Figure licenses or provides customized services based on the technological capabilities of Provenance Blockchain to partners, creating new revenue streams. It can be said that it is shaping the company into a "financial infrastructure service provider," rather than just a single lending platform.
According to the financial condition and profit trends provided in the prospectus, its revenue reached $191 million in the first half of 2025, a 22.4% year-over-year increase, with a net profit of $29 million. It is gradually shifting from cumulative losses to sustained profitability, indicating improved financial health.
The Industry Signal Behind the IPO
Its practices in the RWA field, and even the entire crypto industry, are quite pioneering. It also launched the YLDS stablecoin, the world's first SEC-approved interest-bearing stablecoin, pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, with interest calculated based on SOFR-50bp, offering an annualized yield of approximately 3.79%. This stablecoin can be used for payments, cross-border settlements, collateralized financing, and other multi-scenario applications.
Precisely because Figure's exploration is relatively advanced, its IPO is more than just a capital move by a blockchain lending company.
On one hand, Figure compresses processes that were originally complex and inefficient in the traditional financial system onto the chain, significantly improving capital turnover and asset liquidity. This has allowed it to capture the dual demands of financial institutions and individuals against the backdrop of high US interest rates and growing demand for home equity loans.
On the other hand, its YLDS stablecoin represents the beginning of the era of compliant, interest-bearing blockchain stablecoins. Unlike existing stablecoins that serve merely as "stores of value and mediums of exchange," YLDS introduces an interest distribution mechanism, effectively mapping the returns of traditional US dollar deposits directly onto on-chain assets. This not only helps Figure expand its applications in scenarios such as cross-border payments, financial settlements, and on-chain collateral but also gives it deeper integration capabilities with traditional financial markets.
However, challenges remain. Currently, Figure's revenue is highly dependent on its HELOC product, making its business structure relatively singular. If US interest rates or the real estate market fluctuate, the company's performance could come under pressure. Nonetheless, Figure's listing application has already made it a "sample company" in the blockchain finance industry. If its IPO proceeds smoothly and it receives a favorable valuation in the capital markets, it will not only open up broader growth space for itself but is also likely to be followed by more related companies ringing the bell in this wave of blockchain company listings.
