Blockchain financial company Figure applies for IPO, RWA track ushers in an important milestone

The blockchain financial company Figure announced today that it has submitted an initial public offering (IPO) application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), planning to complete its listing within the year. This move is not only seen as a strong validation of Figure's business model but also marks the transition of the real-world asset (RWA) track from concept to practice, signaling the beginning of a reconstruction wave involving a trillion-dollar market.

Figure's Advantages in the RWA Field

Figure occupies an absolute dominant position in the RWA private credit tokenization sector. Data shows that in the $27.74 billion tokenized private credit market, Figure's cumulative loan scale has reached $11 billion, accounting for nearly 50% of the market share. This overwhelming advantage makes Figure the industry benchmark.

The background of founder Mike Cagney is a key factor in the rapid rise of Figure. As a co-founder of a well-known fintech company, Cagney has established an excellent reputation in the consumer finance sector. He keenly recognized the transformative potential of Blockchain technology in financial infrastructure and decisively turned to the emerging field of RWA, founding Figure in 2018 with the grand vision of "reshaping the credit market with Blockchain."

Unlike many "chain reform finance" projects that remain at the conceptual level, Figure has built a complete closed loop from asset issuance, loan initiation to securitization and trading, truly transferring traditional financial assets to the Blockchain:

• Independently developed blockchain, becoming the industry's first public chain specifically designed for financial services, supporting real-time asset settlement and composability.
• The "Connect platform" launched bridges the gap between loan initiators and investors, achieving efficient matching and circulation of assets.
• The recently launched YLDS stablecoin has become the world's first yield-bearing stablecoin registered with the US SEC, introducing a compliant yield vehicle for on-chain assets.

These measures constitute Figure's strong "product moat," enabling it to expand against the trend in the cryptocurrency market. In just the past month, Figure's newly added loan assets have exceeded $800 million, showing astonishing growth.

Figure Leads the RWA Track Transformation

The rise of Figure aligns with the overall explosive trend in the RWA sector. Recent data shows that RWA-related crypto assets have increased by 6.9%, with several mainstream tokens experiencing significant gains, reflecting that investors prefer "hard assets" associated with the real economy in an uncertain environment.

However, the true potential of RWA goes far beyond this, as a trillion-dollar blue ocean market is opening up. The private credit market itself is already a massive industry with a scale of $3 trillion. According to a certain consulting firm, the potential tokenization space of the entire RWA market could reach $31 trillion, covering multiple traditional financial asset categories such as US dollars, US Treasury bonds, gold, real estate, and accounts receivable.

Not only that, Wall Street giants have also entered the scene:

• A large asset management company has launched its first tokenized fund.
• Another well-known investment management company has deployed a money market fund onto the blockchain.
• Many top private equity firms are lowering investment thresholds through tokenization tools, gradually "democratizing" traditional high-net-worth products.

Figure is "democratizing" asset classes that were originally only available to institutions and the wealthy through its platform, and in a sense, is conducting an innovative fusion of "on-chain asset management + financial technology."

Challenges Facing the Development of RWA

Despite Figure being in a leading position, the widespread adoption of RWA still faces three key challenges:

1. "Trust Anchor" between On-chain Assets and Off-chain Entities: How to ensure that tokens truly represent real-world assets and have clear legal ownership?

2. Asset structuring is a prerequisite for tokenization: not all assets can be directly "put on the chain". A more feasible approach is to first structure them through traditional financial mechanisms (such as funds, asset-backed securities), and then tokenize them to improve efficiency and compliance.

3. The value of RWA lies in efficiency improvement: Blockchain is not about "creating" new financial products, but rather enabling existing assets to circulate within a more transparent and real-time technological framework.

On these three issues, Figure's advantage lies in its understanding of traditional finance (Cagney himself comes from Wall Street and has founded a fintech company) as well as its mastery of the underlying infrastructure of Blockchain, thus possessing a triple moat of technical capability, compliance experience, and product implementation.

The Far-reaching Impact of Figure IPO

The recent push for an IPO by Figure is a landmark event that signifies the transition of RWA from concept to reality. It proves that Blockchain can genuinely empower the circulation of traditional assets, lower barriers, and enhance efficiency.

Mike Cagney and Figure are trying to build a "trust bridge" between traditional finance and the crypto world. This is not just about an entrepreneur's vision, but it could also reshape the way we understand capital markets, asset allocation, and financial democratization.

In the next decade, whoever can master RWA will have the opportunity to gain a ticket to the next trillion-dollar financial new era.