Blockchain Stock Launch: Figure Tests Future of Trading

The company, which is a blockchain-native capital marketplace for tokenized assets, said in a November press release that it had filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the proposed offering of its Blockchain Stock.

Figure said in the November release that the Blockchain Stock would be a blockchain-native class of equity securities, would trade on the company’s alternative trading system and would be convertible into shares of Figure’s Class A Common Stock on a one-for-one basis.

The company added that the Blockchain Stock would use a blockchain-only securities stack, with the security being issued on the Provenance Blockchain, trading on Figure’s non-custodial alternative trading system and settling in self-custody user wallets.

“This is a new capital markets infrastructure moment for efficiency and risk management — a huge leap forward from the legacy securities market infrastructure, and the start of a world that no longer needs it,” Figure Executive Chairman and Co-founder Mike Cagney said in the November release.

In January, Figure announced that it launched its On-chain Public Equity Network (OPEN), which allows companies to list their equity native on blockchain, and that Figure planned to be the first issuer to use OPEN, having filed the public registration statement in November to do so.

“OPEN reinvents equity trading,” Cagney said when announcing the new offering. “The significant benefits over the centralized incumbent model incent companies to use OPEN and their investors demand it. After originating over $20 billion in on-chain credit, we’re now excited to bring public equity to Provenance Blockchain.”

Figure said in a Friday earnings release that during the fourth quarter, its consumer loan marketplace volume increased 131% year over year to reach $2.7 billion. For the full year, the volume rose 63% year over year to hit $8.4 billion.

Mike Tannenbaum, CEO at Figure, said in the release that the results reflect “the meaningful progress we’ve already made in modernizing capital markets and position us to further accelerate that transformation.”