Figure Markets is making a broader play to redefine decentralized finance (DeFi) by bringing real-world assets—and even public stocks—onto the platform. Guiding that vision today is CEO Mike Cagney, who is keen on moving the company to further build that bridge between TradFi and DeFi. Together, their aim is to build a financial ecosystem that is inclusive, efficient and transparent. Figure Markets is able to do this by removing rent-seeking middlemen and employing blockchain technology to automate settlement processes.
Figure Markets sets itself apart by stripping out the conventional financial layers, including clearing brokers, transfer agents and reconciliation desks. This method dramatically cuts administrative costs and inefficiencies built into traditional models. Figure Markets removes the middlemen and welcomes in transparency. Their programmable settlement system allows for one-off transactions to settle within seconds—compared to a days-long transaction wait typical of traditional finance.
CEO Mike Cagney has publicly stated that for him, innovation and efficiency lie at the heart of SoFi’s success. Figure Markets has already established its bona fides by constructing TradFi options with SoFi. This milestone underscores the firm’s broader, world-leading expertise in integrating traditional and decentralized financial systems. The heart of Figure Markets’ technology is based on its use of smart contracts, delivering scalability, transparency, and composability. Combined with other mechanisms, these smart contracts guarantee that every transaction is auditable and automatically executed based on established rules, creating more trust and security.
Another vital part of Figure Markets’ ecosystem is its SEC-qualified stablecoin YLDS. This dual-backed stablecoin is a unique value proposition. It accomplishes this by delivering a yield-bearing digital asset that sweeps the Fed’s overnight rate (SOFR) minus 50 bps. Aside from YLDS, Figure Markets is providing over-collateralized loans wrapped in highly auditable smart contracts. These loans are actively monitored by real-time oracles that automatically trigger margin calls, keeping risk on the platform safe and transparent. Additionally, Figure Markets custodies all collateral in MPC (Multi-Party Computation) wallets, further securing assets held on its platform.
Looking ahead, Figure Markets has a short but ambitious roadmap to roll out new assets onto its platform. By December 2025, the platform aims to have tokenized various asset classes, such as loans, treasuries, blue-chip stocks, BTC, and stablecoins. These assets, including corporate bonds and collectible NFTs, will all trade natively on the platform. They will too cross-collateralize, forming a tangled and mutually reinforcing financial web.
Figure Markets has a radical dream. They are ultimately aiming to allow users to purchase publicly traded equities such as Apple and Tesla on-chain, in crypto. Indeed, this powerful new capability creates myriad exciting new opportunities for crypto investors. Now they’re able to directly engage with the traditional stock market, deepening the link between DeFi and TradFi even further. Figure Markets operates an ATS. They partner tightly with SEC-registered, regulated, and audited transfer agents and qualified custodians to ensure stringent regulatory controls, investor protections, and compliance with all applicable laws.
Smart solutions like Figure’s novel Forward Vaults go even further. These vaults provide an exceptional APY (Annual Percentage Yield) ranging from 3.8% to 7%, even amidst bear markets. This highlights the platform’s resilience in producing attractive risk-adjusted returns regardless of the prevailing market environment. Figure Markets’ Demo Prime facilitates direct lending between users. In doing so, this creative platform gives them the opportunity to receive returns as high as 12%, fostering a bustling peer-to-peer lending community within the DeFi movement.
