Figure Takes Stock Trading Onchain With OPEN Platform, Backed by BitGo and Jump

The blockchain-based equity trading landscape just got a significant upgrade. Figure, the financial technology firm co-founded by SoFi creator Mike Cagney, has launched OPEN (On-Chain Public Equity Network), marking a watershed moment for how public companies can issue and trade shares directly on blockchain infrastructure. This figures trading initiative eliminates the need for traditional market intermediaries while leveraging custody and market liquidity support from industry titans BitGo and Jump Trading.

The new platform operates on the Provenance Blockchain, enabling companies to issue equity natively—meaning shares exist as blockchain-registered assets from inception rather than as wrapped tokens of traditional stock. This architectural distinction is crucial: it allows continuous trading through a limit order book integrated with Figure’s Alternative Trading System (ATS), streamlining settlement and clearing in ways the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) cannot match.

Breaking Free From Traditional Intermediaries

One of OPEN’s most compelling features addresses a persistent pain point in equity markets: the reliance on prime brokers for leverage and lending. By enabling investors to borrow against or lend their holdings through decentralized finance rails, the platform eliminates a costly middleman layer. This shift reduces transaction costs, accelerates settlement cycles, and creates transparent on-chain records of all activity—a stark contrast to opaque traditional prime brokerage arrangements.

Figure itself will serve as the flagship user, listing its own stock on OPEN. Following a secondary share offering filing in November, the company plans to make its Nasdaq-listed shares directly interchangeable with blockchain-registered OPEN equity. This strategy transforms Figure from a platform provider into a practitioner, validating the system’s viability at scale.

The Native Issuance Advantage

The tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) has exploded recently, but most offerings remain superficial—token wrappers that simply mirror existing shares. OPEN represents a fundamentally different approach: natively issued equity on blockchain infrastructure. This means companies bypass legacy systems entirely, reducing issuance costs and expanding accessibility to global markets.

Current market data illustrates the momentum: the tokenized stock market has reached $870 million in total value with over $2 billion in monthly trading volume. However, these figures predominantly reflect wrapped-token models. Native issuance platforms like OPEN signal a next-generation phase where blockchain becomes the primary rails rather than a secondary wrapper layer.

Regulatory Tailwinds Accelerating Growth

The path forward appears increasingly clear. SEC Chair Paul Atkins recently underscored that tokenization could “reshape the financial system” in coming years, citing benefits including greater transparency, reduced settlement risks, and elimination of trade gaps. This regulatory blessing provides institutional confidence—a critical requirement for mainstream adoption of blockchain-based equity trading systems.

Figure’s OPEN platform thus arrives at an inflection point where regulatory support, technological maturity, and market demand converge. By combining native blockchain issuance with DeFi-powered lending mechanisms and custody from trusted providers, the initiative demonstrates how figures trading infrastructure can simultaneously enhance efficiency and reduce systemic fragility in public equity markets.