Figure Technology, a blockchain-focused financial services firm specializing in tokenized assets and lending, has initiated a second public offering to issue native equity directly on a public blockchain. This move, following the company’s recent listing on Nasdaq, aims to enhance decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on Solana.
At the Solana Breakpoint conference, Figure’s executive chairman Mike Cagney announced that the company has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to create what he calls “a new version of Figure equity on a public blockchain,” specifically targeting Solana.
Cagney emphasized that the blockchain-native equity would not be traded on conventional exchanges like Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange, and it wouldn’t depend on introducing brokers such as Robinhood or prime brokers like Goldman Sachs.
Rather, the security would be issued and traded natively on-chain via Figure’s alternative trading system, which Cagney described as “effectively a decentralized exchange.”
By launching equity directly on Solana, investors could engage with the tokenized security through DeFi protocols, allowing for borrowing or lending, according to Cagney.
He further noted the company’s broader ambition extends beyond tokenizing its shares, indicating plans to facilitate native equity issuance for other enterprises directly within the Solana ecosystem:
“One of our focus points is not only bringing that equity to the Solana ecosystem but enabling native Solana equity issuance as well.”
Related: Figure Technology boosts IPO size, total deal could reach $800M
Tokenization on Solana is gaining momentum
As one of the most active public blockchains, Solana is emerging as a central hub for tokenized assets, steadily increasing its share in the real-world asset (RWA) market over the past year.
While Ethereum remains dominant in tokenization currently, Solana is poised to become the financial industry’s favored network for stablecoins and tokenized assets in the long run, according to Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise.
As Wall Street assesses the future potential of tokenized assets, interest is expected to gravitate towards blockchains that provide rapid speed, throughput, and swift transaction finality—areas where Solana has a competitive edge over various competitor networks, Hougan mentioned.
RedStone’s research identified Solana as a “high-performance challenger” in the RWA sector, particularly in the tokenized US Treasury markets.
Related: Scaramucci predicts ‘exponential opportunity’ for crypto at LONGITUDE
