Figure Technology Solutions is making a bold push to disrupt traditional mortgage finance and small-business lending using blockchain technology. At the Consensus Miami conference, CEO Mike Cagney announced plans to challenge Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in first-lien mortgages by slashing origination costs from roughly $11,000 to about $1,000 per loan.
The company is zeroing in on sub-$300,000 mortgages, a segment where fixed fees under the government-sponsored enterprise model often burden borrowers. Figure’s platform offers originators a guaranteed loan buyer, mimicking the role of Fannie and Freddie while enabling faster liquidity. Its home equity line of credit process already approves applications in five minutes and funds them in three days, versus the typical 30–45 day timeline. Consumer loan marketplace volume hit $1.34 billion in April, up 108% year-over-year.
Cagney highlighted that Figure’s HELOC tokens rank among the largest crypto assets on a public blockchain by market value, though DeFiLlama has questioned the visibility of some tokenized real-world assets. The firm is also building a marketplace model, aiming to push contribution margins to 80–85% and exploring integration with MetaMask’s DeFi lending protocol.
Simultaneously, Figure announced a strategic partnership with Credibly, a fintech specializing in AI-driven working capital for SMBs. Credibly will integrate its loan products onto Figure’s Democratized Prime platform, a DeFi-native warehouse line of credit, while assets flow through Figure Connect for tokenized sales and its DART registry for electronic notes. This marks the second fintech to use Democratized Prime, following auto lender Agora Data. Credibly has already disbursed over $3 billion to 61,000 small businesses and completed multiple rated securitizations.
CEO Michael Tannenbaum noted that the partnership addresses long-standing gaps in SMB funding—less than half of owners secure full requested amounts—by combining blockchain transparency with AI-powered decisions. The integration goes live in Q2 2026, underscoring Figure’s mission to modernize capital markets through real-world asset tokenization.
