By BitpushNews

Figure, the blockchain finance company founded by SoFi co-founder Mike Cagney, today announced it has filed for an IPO with the US SEC, with plans to go public this year. This move is seen as not only a strong validation of the success of Figure's business model, but also a sign that the RWA (Real World Asset) market is moving from concept to reality, marking the beginning of a battle to reshape the trillion-dollar market.

How did Figure become the leader in the RWA market?

Figure's IPO is driven by its unwavering dominance in the RWA private credit tokenization space. Data shows that Figure's cumulative loan volume has reached $11 billion, representing nearly 50% of the $27.74 billion tokenized private credit market. This overwhelming dominance has made Figure a natural industry icon.

Founder Mike Cagney's background was undoubtedly a key factor in Figure's rise. As co-founder of SoFi, Cagney had already established a formidable reputation in consumer finance. After leaving SoFi, he keenly recognized the transformative potential of blockchain technology in financial infrastructure and resolutely transitioned to the emerging RWA sector. In 2018, he founded Figure with the ambitious vision of "reshaping the credit market with blockchain."

Unlike many "chain-to-finance" projects that remain at the conceptual level, Figure has created a complete closed loop from asset issuance and loan origination to securitization and trading, truly "moving" traditional financial assets onto the chain:

• The independently developed Provenance Blockchain has become the industry's first public chain designed specifically for financial services, supporting real-time asset liquidation and composability;
• Figure's "Connect Platform" connects loan originators and investors, enabling efficient matching and transfer of assets.
• The recently released YLDS stablecoin has become the world's first income-generating stablecoin registered with the U.S. SEC, introducing a mainstream and compliant income carrier for on-chain assets.

All of this constitutes Figure's powerful "product moat", allowing it to expand against the trend in the crypto market - in the past month alone, its new loan assets exceeded US$800 million, an astonishing growth rate.

Figure in the RWA Track: A Pioneer of Change and an Industry Standardizer

Figure's rise aligns with the overall explosive growth of the RWA sector. Data shows that over the past 24 hours, RWA-related crypto assets have risen 6.9% overall, including significant gains in mainstream tokens such as Provenance Blockchain (HASH), Stellar (XLM), and Injective (INJ). This suggests that investors are increasingly favoring "hard assets" linked to the real economy amidst uncertainty.

But the true potential of RWA goes far beyond its current performance, and a trillion-level blue ocean has been opened.

First, the private credit market itself is already a massive $3 trillion industry. Second, according to PwC, the potential tokenization space for the entire RWA market could reach $31 trillion, encompassing multiple traditional financial asset classes such as the US dollar, US Treasury bonds, gold, real estate, and accounts receivable.

Not only that, Wall Street giants have already entered the market:

• BlackRock launches BUIDL, the first tokenized fund;
• Franklin Templeton deploys money market funds to public blockchains;
• Top private equity firms such as Apollo and Hamilton Lane are also using tokenization tools to lower investment barriers and gradually "popularize" traditional high-net-worth products.

Through its platform, Figure has "democratized" asset classes that were originally only open to institutions and wealthy individuals. In a sense, it is implementing the fusion innovation of "on-chain version of BlackRock + SoFi".

Three Thresholds for RWA to Enter the Mainstream: Can Figure Continue to Lead?

Although Figure is at the forefront, the widespread adoption of RWA still faces three key challenges:

• The “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?
• Asset structuring is a prerequisite for tokenization: not all assets can be directly put on the blockchain. A more feasible approach is to first structure them through traditional financial mechanisms (such as funds and ABS) and then tokenize them to improve efficiency and compliance.
• The value of RWA is not a "new invention" but an "efficiency tool": blockchain is not about "creating" new financial products, but about allowing existing assets to circulate under a more transparent and real-time technical framework.

On these three issues, Figure's advantage lies in its understanding of traditional finance (Cagney himself is from Wall Street and founded SoFi) and its control over the underlying blockchain infrastructure. Therefore, it has a triple moat of technical capabilities + compliance experience + product implementation.

Figure's IPO is more than just a company story

Figure's IPO is a landmark event in the transition of RWA from concept to reality. It proves that blockchain is a key tool that can effectively empower the circulation of traditional assets, lower barriers to entry, and improve efficiency.

Mike Cagney and Figure are attempting to build a "bridge of trust" between traditional finance and the crypto world. This isn't just about one entrepreneur's vision; it has the potential to reshape how we understand capital markets, asset allocation, and the democratization of finance.

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