coindesk.com
Figure (FIGR), a financial technology firm best known for onchain lending and led by SoFi founder Mike Cagney, is pushing deeper into the red-hot tokenization trend with a new stock trading and issuance network built entirely on the blockchain.
Dubbed On-Chain Public Equity Network (OPEN) and unveiled on Wednesday, the platform lets companies issue equity directly via the Provenance Blockchain, sidestepping traditional intermediaries like the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC). The system integrates with Figure’s Alternative Trading System (ATS), enabling continuous trading through a limit order book, according to the press release.
Investors, the firm said, will also be able to lend or borrow against their holdings using decentralized finance (DeFi) rails, removing the need for prime brokers.
Figure said it will be the first company to list its own stock using OPEN. It filed for a secondary share offering in November and plans to make its Nasdaq-listed shares interchangeable with the new blockchain-registered equity.
The rollout is a part of the broader push to rewire how public equities are issued, traded and custodied using blockchain plumbing, a trend also known is tokenization of real-world assets (RWA). Tokenized stocks are currently a $870 million market with over $2 billion in monthly trading volume, RWA.xyz data shows. However, most offerings are token wrappers of existing shares, not natively issued equity on blockchain rails.
The market is projected to grow rapidly, supported by regulatory tailwinds. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said last month that tokenization could "reshape the financial system" over the next few years, bringing benefits like greater transparency and reduced risks and trade gaps.
Read more: Blockchain lender Figure named 2026 'top pick' by Wall Street analyst