Figment Acquires Rated Labs: A Strategic Restructuring of the Institutional Staking Data Landscape
TL;DR
On October 16, 2025, Figment announced the acquisition of blockchain analytics firm Rated Labs, its first acquisition aimed at strengthening its institutional-grade staking data services. Figment currently manages approximately $18 billion in staking assets and serves over 700 institutional clients, including Grayscale. The acquisition will integrate Rated's validator analytics tools and APIs to enhance data transparency and risk management capabilities. This move signals the institutional staking data market's transition to a data-driven platform, which is expected to drive industry consolidation and improve service standards.
Core Analysis
Acquisition Details and Strategic Intentions
The specific amount and financial terms of Figment's acquisition of Rated Labs have not been publicly disclosed, but it is an important part of the company 's $200 million M&A strategy. Founded in 2022, Rated Labs focuses on staking and validator performance data, providing Rated Explorer (a public staking browser) and data APIs, supporting performance tracking of networks such as Ethereum, Solana, and Cosmos .
The strategic objective is to address data transparency and risk management pain points in the staking market. Andrew Cronk, Figment's Chief Product Officer, emphasized, "Transparent and reliable data remains the foundation of trust, especially as staking becomes a critical component of institutional portfolios." This aligns with the consolidation trend in the staking industry, promoting the standardization of institutional-grade infrastructure.
Integration timeline is expected to be completed within 30-45 days. The Rated Explorer will remain online and the API service will undergo customer review. Rated's brand and website will remain unchanged, but its team and technology will be integrated into Figment .
Market positioning and strengthening of competitive advantages
Figment, a leading independent institutional staking provider, manages approximately $18 billion in staked assets, serves over 700 clients, and covers over 30 PoS networks. The company has secured $163.5 million in funding from leading investors including Thoma Bravo, Morgan Stanley, and Franklin Templeton.
The strategic partnership with Grayscale further underscores Figment's market position. On October 9, 2025, Grayscale selected Figment as its staking partner for its ETH ETP and SOL Trust, marking the first case of staking rewards integrated into an ETP in the United States. This partnership strengthens Figment 's position in bridging traditional finance and cryptocurrencies.
Rated Labs' technical capabilities will significantly enhance Figment's services: the validator rating system provides RAVER ratings (up to 98.7%), the performance API tracks historical performance and benchmarks, and the reward API enables accurate reward accounting. These tools cover more than 1 million validators and handle terabyte -scale data warehouses.
Analysis of changes in the competitive landscape
The institutional staking data market is in a consolidation phase. As the total staked value of the PoS network exceeds $100 billion, market demand is shifting to more reliable data analysis and compliance tools.
| competitors | Market Positioning | Key Benefits | Asset size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Figment (post-acquisition) | Full-stack data-driven platform | $18B AUM + Advanced Analytics | $18B |
| Coinbase Cloud | Exchange Integration Services | Institutional trading volume 42% market share | billions of dollars |
| Kraken (including Staked) | Compliance-oriented platform | 10+ PoS networks, global regulatory entities | not disclosed |
| Stake.fish/Staked | Multi-entity structure | API optimization and DeFi revenue aggregation | Smaller scale |
Market concentration : Independent providers like Figment account for 30-40% of institutional staking, while exchange-affiliated services dominate the mixed retail-institutional market (over 50% share). Figment's acquisition accelerates the shift from fragmented operators to data-driven platforms.
Competitors have yet to publicly react to the acquisition, which may reflect the recent nature of the event or strategic reticence. However, overall industry trends suggest a wave of mergers and acquisitions is emerging, and competitors may respond with similar actions.
Impact on the PoS ecosystem
This acquisition will enhance the maturity of the PoS ecosystem and propel staking from speculation to institutional-grade asset management. Figment plans to expand Rated's tools to more networks, providing standardized reward data and validator insights to help mitigate slashing risk and optimize returns.
Institutional adoption is accelerating : By 2025, 86% of institutions plan to gain exposure to digital assets, with 35% exploring staking returns. The survey shows that institutions prioritize security and regulatory compliance, followed by distributed validator technology for risk diversification. Ethereum Figment's post-merger services, including forfeiture coverage and white-label staking, are expected to attract institutional investors holding over $250M in ETH.
Network Impact : This will be particularly beneficial for Ethereum (57% of PoS TVS) and Solana (16%), potentially accelerating the adoption of distributed validators. This will drive more institutional adoption of PoS networks such as Aptos and Polkadot, while also increasing the overall total staked value.
Improved data transparency standards
The acquisition directly raises industry standards: Rated's Explorer will be publicly available, providing standardized staking rewards and validator data, addressing current fragmentation. Figment emphasizes the importance of "data integrity and standardization" for auditors and asset managers, which could become an industry benchmark and drive competitors to follow suit.
Transparency Innovation : In the PoS ecosystem, this reduces manipulation risks and aligns with regulatory trends. By 2025, transparency will become a key differentiator: Institutional surveys show that 73% of Ethereum staking platforms are integrating advanced data tools.
Potential risks : Data centralization could exacerbate single points of failure, but Figment is committed to maintaining a public API to mitigate this risk.
Social media and industry response
As the acquisition was announced just one day ago, social media reactions were relatively limited. Comments from industry experts were generally positive, emphasizing the importance of strategic returns to institutional investors.
The official statement is positive: Elias Simos, co-founder of Rated Labs, said: "Railway itself is integrating, and Figment is best suited to advance our mission." Figment CEO Lorien Gabel's previous statement emphasized the commitment to independent development, which may make investors feel at ease in the market volatility.
Institutional Investor Perspective : Institutions (including exchanges and custodians) will benefit from enhanced compliance and yield optimization tools. Coverage suggests that improved data access facilitates staking risk assessment and is attractive to conservative allocators.
in conclusion
Figment's acquisition of Rated Labs marks a significant turning point in the institutional staking data market, a strategic upgrade from infrastructure provision to a comprehensive data platform. This move not only strengthens Figment's market leadership based on its $18B in assets under management, but also sets a new standard for transparency and service for the entire PoS ecosystem.
Amidst accelerating institutional adoption, this acquisition is expected to drive further consolidation in the staking market, elevate industry standards for data-driven decision-making, and pave the way for the deeper integration of traditional finance and cryptocurrency. While market concentration carries certain risks, overall, this strategic move will foster the maturity of institutional-grade staking services.