FinTech Figure Launches Cryptocurrency Mortgage Products

Figure Technologies, a US financial technology company that operates both in the home equity and blockchain space, announced on Wednesday that it has launched a cryptocurrency-backed mortgage trading service that enables customers to borrow against their Bitcoin or ether to fund home purchases.

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While the full rollout is scheduled to take place in April, Figure has opened its waiting list for crypto-backed mortgages in the US, an effort that would let borrowers put up Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) as collateral.

The loan instrument will allow payments with the crypto collateral. Borrowers will be able to take out mortgages worth up to $20 million for a 30-year loan. Beginning in April, Figure will offer 30-year mortgages of up to $20 million in exchange for putting up an equal amount of cryptocurrency in either Bitcoin or Ether, as collateral.

In a Linkedin post, Mike Cagney, the co-founder and CEO of blockchain startup Figure Technologies, disclosed that the company has opened a waiting list for its mortgage products (Crypto Mortgage and Crypto Mortgage PLUS), and those who signed up could receive them in April.

Payment on the loan over the 30-year term can be paid in cash or with the crypto collateral, and would bear an interest rate of between 3% and 5.99%, Cagney said. “The loans will also be 100% loan-to-value (LTV), so if you put up $5 million in bitcoin or ether, we give you a $5 million mortgage,” the CEO explained.

Figure follows several other firms into the crypto-backed mortgage market, a trend that shows rising interest in bringing digital assets to the housing market.

In December last year, Ledn, a crypto lending company, raised $70 million to develop its Bitcoin-backed mortgage product. While in January, Milo, a real estate fintech based in Miami, also launched a waitlist for its crypto mortgage product.

Leveraging Blockchain to Reinvent Financial Services Delivery

Figure was co-founded in 2018 by Mike Cagney, who was the co-founder and former CEO of SoFi, a San Francisco-based online personal finance company that went public in June last year through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company run by tech investor Chamath Palihapitiya.

In 2017, Cagney stepped down as CEO of SoFi amid questions about sexual harassment at the firm. Cagney’s new startup, Figure, is already seeing its own success. In July last year, Figure raised $200 million in a Series D financing round, funding that gave the firm a valuation of $3.2 billion.

Figure is a financial services company that leverages blockchain technology. The company offers consumer financial solutions intended for retirement planning, debt consolidation, and home improvement. Its financial services include providing home equity release services like home improvement loans, home equity lines of credit, and home buy-lease back offerings, which leverage blockchain, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics technology services to enable customers to access capital in as few as five days.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Alternative Asset Manager with $89 Billion AUM to Put Funds on Blockchain

Alternative asset manager Apollo Global Management today announced a partnership with Figure Technologies to launch several fund-based blockchain initiatives.

Apollo Global Management Partners with Figure Technologies

In a bid to leverage blockchain technology in the world of finance, asset manager Apollo Global Management has inked a deal with Figure Technologies to collaborate on blockchain-based initiatives.

For the uninitiated, Figure founded the Provenance blockchain – a distributed ledger technology (DLT) solution used to power numerous financial applications including asset-backed securities, managing cap tables for stocks, and payments.

It is worthy of note that in May this year, Figure raised a whopping $200 million at a $3.2 billion valuation.

Figure’s alliance with Apollo will largely focus on listing funds on the blockchain, asset securitization, and digital marketplaces.

Commenting on the development, John Zito, Senior Partner and Deputy CIO of Credit, Apollo, noted:

“This collaboration extends Apollo’s strategy of working with best-in-class fintech firms to seek the operational and cost benefits that blockchain and other technologies can bring to bear.”

As for Apollo, the asset manager has about $463 billion in assets under management as of today. Out of its total AUM, about $323 billion is in credit and the firm has been continually making strides in the blockchain space. The latest partnership with Figure Technologies is just the latest of the milestones for the asset manager.

Blockchain Adoption Continues to Gain Traction

While the crypto market continues to see-saw after the parabolic surge witnessed throughout Q1 2021, the technology underpinning all digital assets continues to witness greater adoption across industries the world over.

On July 5, the World Economic Forum in a detailed report stated the benefits of blockchain technology, saying that the emerging technology could be the solution to mitigating corruption in government services.

An example of blockchain’s use was witnessed recently in India where major IT firm Tech Mahindra allied with Singapore and Hyderabad-based digital supply chain solutions provider StaTwig to implement ‘VaccineLedger’ – a blockchain technology-based supply chain solution to verify the provenance of vaccines across the world.

On a similar note, the National Australian Bank recently partnered with several institutions to launch a blockchain-enabled carbon offset marketplace dubbed Project Carbon.

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Blockchain Mortgage Platform Figure Launches SPAC to Raise $250M

Michael Cagney, the founder of blockchain lending startup Figure Technologies, wants to set up a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), it announced in a regulatory filing Thursday.

The blank-check firm seeks to raise $250 million, according to the prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and will be called Figure Acquisition Corp. I. Bloomberg first published the news.

Figure Technologies issues mortgages and loans, using its own blockchain, called Provenance, to automate portions of the process. It was founded in 2018 and raised $220 million from Ribbit Management, DST Capital, RPM Ventures, Nimble Ventures and Morgan Creek, the prospectus noted.

Cagney would be the chairman of the new company’s board.

Figure is the latest crypto firm setting up a SPAC, which have been used as vehicles to let companies to go public. Digital asset custodian and derivatives provider Bakkt went public through a similar method earlier this year. Other companies like Coinbase have instead chosen to go public through a direct listing.

Figure’s prospectus said it expects “to identify companies that have compelling growth potential” and a combination of various characteristics that it can acquire to go public.

“We expect to differentiate ourselves through our … capacity to leverage proven and scaled blockchain platform which drives operational, technological and marketing improvements to maximize the growth potential of businesses,” the prospectus said.

The prospectus did not say that Figure Technologies itself would go public through the SPAC.

According to SEC documents, Figure filed its form S-1, initially announcing the SPAC, on Feb. 3, with an updated filing going live on Thursday. A draft registration statement was filed in mid-January.

Figure also filed to become a bank last year, applying for a charter through the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in November, though it’s yet to receive approval.

Figure also created an ad campaign featuring an anthropomorphic “blockchain” in early 2020.

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