Figure Technologies which operates the Provenance blockchain announced that its subsidiary Figure Securities has SEC approval as an Alternative Trading System (ATS). Last week it also became a FINRA approved broker-dealer. The company had previously unveiled its cap table management solution Adnales, which can now legally provide secondary market trading for private securities through the Figure Marketplace.
Additionally, Figure is targeting fund managers to enable limited partners to trade their holdings. Its website states that a loan marketplace is coming soon. We previously reported that Figure planned to launch a blockchain-based exchange to eliminate two-day settlement and counterparty risk.
“Being approved as a broker-dealer and being able to operate our ATS is a transformational event for our company that will have significant impact across the financial services sector,” said Mike Cagney, CEO and Cofounder of Figure.
“The ability to execute trades of securities across our technology platform will enable significant capabilities across our financial services client roster.”
Cagney also recently uploaded a video demo on Youtube showing how the “Provenance Exchange” can handle volumes.
FINRA lists the CEO of Figure Securities as Bill White, who is also president of ReFlow Services.
Provenance at the heart of a flurry of activity
The Provenance blockchain solution is core to all of Figure’s activities. Figure started by offering retail mortgage services to demonstrate how blockchain could be used, and securitized the mortgages on the Provenance blockchain.
The startup also applied for a banking charter and is launching Figure Pay, a retail payments solution targeting the underbanked based on blockchain and stablecoins. In March, it started piloting the solution in Missoula, Montana.
Figure Pay plans to attract retailers by cutting merchant fees and offering point of sale credit to consumers. That approach has been enormously profitable for Alipay, the world’s largest payment wallet. However, China’s central bank recently asked Alipay to restrict how it offers credit at the point of sale, out of concern that people are overextending themselves.
On top of all this activity, Figure plans to make acquisitions through a recently announced SPAC.
