Figure Technology Solutions has agreed to purchase Kiavi, an AI-driven lending platform specializing in residential real estate investor loans, in a $717 million transaction that will channel approximately $7 billion in annual origination volume onto blockchain rails. The acquisition, announced on June 10, involves a joint venture with investment firm Sixth Street that will acquire Kiavi’s balance sheet loan portfolio, while Figure takes ownership of the technology and operating platform.
Kiavi’s business focuses on short-term Residential Transition Loans (RTL) and long-term Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) loans, products widely used by investors who flip and rent properties at scale. Under Figure, this entire loan pipeline will feed into Figure Connect — the company’s institutional marketplace for tokenized real estate debt — and Democratized Prime, the blockchain-native warehouse marketplace where lenders are matched with capital seeking institutional-grade returns. More than $100 million of monthly flow is expected to arrive on Democratized Prime alone.
The move is a scaling play designed to boost Figure’s presence in the first-lien mortgage segment. Kiavi’s DSCR loans add a product category that Figure currently lacks, complementing its existing second-lien home equity lines. Figure CEO Michael Tannenbaum described the deal as “a further pole vault into tokenization, first-lien diversification and our agentic AI platform,” highlighting that the company now targets over 40% first-lien composition by end‑2027.
A new AI system called Adaptor will serve as Kiavi’s onboarding tool, standardizing data from originators to allow for rapid counterparty integration on Figure’s marketplaces. This aligns with Figure’s broader vision of autonomous agents trading tokenized assets, supported by infrastructure built for machine-to-machine connectivity.
The acquisition frames a $200 billion annual opportunity in tokenizing residential investment loans, a market historically dominated by bank balance sheets. By shifting origination onto blockchain rails, Figure argues it can strip out intermediaries, accelerate settlement, and sustain a projected 60% EBITDA margin without taking on credit risk — a perk of the capital-light structure made possible by Sixth Street holding the loan assets.
The transaction follows Figure’s recent push into tokenized credit, including a May integration with NUVA, which launched an Ethereum-based marketplace connecting $19 billion in Figure-originated tokenized assets to DeFi applications. Figure’s executive chairman Mike Cagney has indicated that the company intends to expand further into U.S. first-lien mortgages under $300,000, using blockchain infrastructure to lower origination costs. Despite the bullish narrative, Figure’s shares closed 0.74% lower on Wednesday at $28.07, reflecting a 25.4% decline over the past month.
