Figure has become one of the most watched startups in the fintech sector in recent years. Founded by a team with strong financial and technological backgrounds, this capital markets technology company is dedicated to reshaping the infrastructure of traditional financial markets with blockchain technology. Figure 's core technology revolves around on-chain asset management, enabling real-world assets such as mortgage loans to flow at lower costs and faster speeds through standardized, tamper-proof data structures, attracting institutional investors. Since its inception, the company has put nearly $18 billion in assets on-chain and achieved a dominant market share in private lending and mortgage lending, earning the highest AAA rating from S&P and Moody's. In September 2025, Figure successfully went public, becoming one of the most representative blockchain companies in the US capital market.
In an interview with the NY Post , host William Zimmerman and Figure CEO Michael Tannenbaum discussed how Figure is using blockchain technology to reshape the mortgage lending process, modernize capital markets, and how policy, regulation, and market conditions work together to facilitate the rapid penetration of blockchain in the financial sector.
Blockchain accelerates mortgage approval, reducing computational costs and processes.
Tannenbaum began by illustrating the efficiency difference with concrete data. He pointed out that the cost of processing a mortgage loan in Figure is approximately $1,000, while the average cost in the traditional industry is as high as $12,000, representing a saving of over 90%. The processing time has also been reduced from the industry average of 45 days to about five days. This efficiency does not come from simple automation, but from the high degree of standardization achieved by moving the entire transaction chain to the blockchain. He explained that when loan information and its ownership are recorded on the chain in an immutable form, subsequent transactions, transfers, valuations, and reviews can all follow standardized processes, significantly improving the liquidity and transparency of the entire market.
Zimmerman points out that Wall Street and the Federal Reserve frequently discuss the blockchainization of finance, but there are few large-scale implementations. Figure shows that the company processes nearly one billion dollars in mortgage and other asset issuances monthly, holding approximately 75% market share in the real-world asset blockchain market, with an even more significant lead in private lending. To date, the company has had nearly 18 billion dollars in assets blockchained through its system and has received an AAA rating from international rating agencies, proving that blockchain architecture not only works but also meets the risk standards of traditional institutions.
Figure benefits from the Genius Grant Act and successfully goes public.
When discussing the company's IPO, Zimmerman asked if Figure could have completed its listing under the regulatory environment of a few years ago. Tannenbaum stated that the company's business model is flexible enough to grow under any government environment, but he had to acknowledge that the current Trump administration's strong desire to make the US, especially New York, a blockchain and digital asset hub provided favorable conditions for Figure's IPO, both in terms of the atmosphere and regulatory clarity. He cited the GENIUS Act (a new law related to stablecoin regulation) as an example, pointing out that such policies send a clear signal to the market: the capital market on the blockchain is no longer an experiment, but the next stage in the evolution of financial infrastructure. He jokingly remarked that a year ago, discussing blockchain at a board meeting might have been considered far-fetched; now, not talking about it would be seen as being out of touch.
The interview also extended to other loan products, such as student loans and auto loans. Tannenbaum stated that Figure has already conducted initial pilot loans in these areas, proving the technology's feasibility, and is scaling up by finding partners. He emphasized that the company's real goal is not simply to offer mortgage loans, but to build a standardized capital market infrastructure that allows all RWA real-world assets to be on-chain.
Blockchain makes mortgages cheaper and home equity easier to borrow.
Regarding consumers' primary concerns about "housing costs" and "interest rates," Tannenbaum mentioned two differentiating strategies employed by Figure. First, significantly reducing loan origination costs, allowing the final interest rate to reflect lower back-end fees; second, making it easier to obtain home equity loans. Currently, there are approximately $35 trillion in outstanding home equity loans in the United States, a large portion of which is concentrated in the high-priced tri-state region. Figure has made it easier for local residents to apply through a digital process and launched the Intella Debt product, allowing consumers to directly repay high-interest debt with their home equity. According to the company's observations, users' credit scores improved by an average of about 30 points after the conversion, reflecting a significant improvement in household financial health brought about by the product.
Tannenbaum explained that in the past, loan transactions relied heavily on paper documents, manual processes, and case-by-case assessments. Each transaction required a new contract and due diligence process, which was extremely inefficient. Figure, on the other hand, uses a standardized, on-chain synchronized operating model with two hundred partners. All processes, data, and assessment methods are unified, making transactions almost as smooth as buying and selling stocks on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq.
Returning to its post-IPO positioning, Tannenbaum believes that while the IPO provides significant market exposure, Figure's growth is just beginning. From private lending and mortgage lending to the broader capital markets, the company faces a potential market size of up to $1.8 trillion. He emphasizes that if financial infrastructure truly becomes fully digital, blockchain will become an indispensable underlying layer, and Figure is building that future.
The entire interview showcased Figure's core philosophy: to give RWA real-world assets a truly programmable, traceable, and liquid digital form. Once standardized on-chain infrastructure is established, the speed, transparency, and cost structure of financial markets will undergo a generational change. For Figure, this is not just a business, but a necessary step for capital markets towards next-generation infrastructure.
This article, "Can Blockchain Reduce Mortgage Costs? Figure CEO: We Prove It's Feasible," first appeared on ABMedia, a ABMedia .
