Blockchain Lender Figure to Hit Nasdaq at $5.3 Billion Valuation

Blockchain lender Figure Technologies was set to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Thursday under the ticker symbol “FIGR” after raising $787.5 million through an initial public offering alongside existing investors, according to a press release.

The New York-based firm, which uses a blockchain-based platform to facilitate lending outside its traditional scope, sold 31.5 million shares at $25 apiece. The firm and its investors initially targeted a range of $20 to $22 per share for its IPO across 26 million shares. With 211 million in shares outstanding, the deal valued Figure at $5.29 billion.

The upsized IPO represented Wall Street’s latest reading on the crypto industry’s pulse, following the debut of crypto exchange Bullish and stablecoin issuer Circle earlier this year. Winklevoss-founded crypto exchange Gemini is set for its IPO on Friday.

Figure said it’s not receiving any proceeds from shares sold by existing investors. That means Figure itself raised $587 million through the IPO. The IPO’s lead underwriters included Goldman Sachs and BofA Securities.

Figure describes its ecosystem as “the largest non-bank provider of home equity financing,” having originated $16 billion worth of home loans since inception alongside its partners since its inception in 2018. Figure also facilitates crypto-backed loans.

Homeowners typically tap a home equity line of credit (HELOC) to make home improvements or consolidate debt. In practice, securing a HELOC can be time-consuming, but using a blockchain, Figure says applicants can receive approval in minutes and funding within days.

Using its Provenance blockchain, Figure is engaged in the tokenization of private credit, and it had $11.7 billion in outstanding loans that are represented on-chain, as of Thursday, per data from RWA.xyz. The value of loans originated by Tradable and Maple Finance, its biggest competitors, meanwhile totaled $2.1 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively.

Figure’s HELOC loans are represented by tokens, which rank among the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, according to crypto data provider CoinGecko. At $12.5 billion, they currently have a greater market cap than Avalanche’s native token.