Shares of Figure (FIGR) began trading on Nasdaq on September 11, closing at $31.11, which marked a 24% increase from its pre-sale price of $25. This initial performance established a market capitalization of $6.6 billion, with 211.66 million shares outstanding. During the trading day, the stock reached an intraday high of $36.13, reflecting a substantial 44.5% rise before settling at its closing price. Notably, Figure’s debut occurred without any trading halts, setting it apart from other recent cryptocurrency IPOs, such as Circle (CRCL) and American Bitcoin (ABTC), which experienced suspensions due to volatility.
The trading pattern displayed by Figure indicated a growing confidence among institutional investors in the company’s innovative tokenized credit model and its established lending operations. In a statement shared on social media platform X, the company expressed its enthusiasm for its debut, noting, “What began as an idea to reimagine capital markets through blockchain is becoming a reality with money moving faster, cheaper, and transparently. We’re just getting started.”
In the competitive landscape of crypto firms, Figure is the smallest by market cap among those that have recently gone public, trailing behind larger firms like Bullish, American Bitcoin, Galaxy Digital, and Circle. Despite this, Figure has one of the lowest share counts at 211.66 million shares, with only Bullish having fewer at 148.91 million.
Matthew Sigel, an analyst at VanEck, projected in a September 9 analysis that Figure’s share price could double to $40 within 12 months. He also estimated potential upside to $60-75 over a longer horizon of 18-24 months, contingent upon increased adoption and margin expansion. Figure operates the first scaled, institutional-grade, on-chain lending platform, boasting $12 billion in outstanding loans and approximately $750 million in monthly originations.
The company’s blockchain-native securitization model offers significant operational efficiencies when compared to traditional lending platforms. Sigel highlighted that typical AAA securitizations involve 100% audits for each loan, with costs reaching $500 per loan. In contrast, Figure utilizes immutable loan-level data, allowing rating agencies to conduct sampling at only 25-30% of loans at a significantly lower cost of $100 per loan. This innovative approach results in an estimated savings of about 100 basis points in lifecycle costs.
In the broader context of the U.S. market, Figure is said to control roughly 2.9% of the $406 billion home equity line of credit market on a stock basis, with around 10% of the incremental flow. Sigel also forecasts that Figure can maintain a revenue growth rate of 30% alongside 40% EBITDA margins, targeting total revenues of $1.3 billion and $520 million in EBITDA by 2027.
Overall, the successful debut of Figure on the Nasdaq underscores the increasing institutional demand for blockchain-enabled financial infrastructure and positions the company as a significant player in the evolving landscape of tokenized credit markets.
