Figure Expands Access to Its On-Chain Public Equity Network

Blockchain-based lender Figure says it is expanding investor access to its On-Chain Public Equity Network (OPEN).

This is happening via new integrations with moomoo and Keplr, Figure said in a Wednesday (Feb. 4) news release. The collaboration is designed to extend the distribution of blockchain-native public equities on regulated brokerage platforms and self-custody wallets.

Introduced last month, OPEN lets companies issue their equity native on blockchain and lets investors around the world invest in U.S. public equities while getting access to decentralized finance (DeFi) for borrowing against and lending out stock.

According to the release, moomoo is the first retail brokerage to integrate with OPEN, allowing investors to trade equities registered on OPEN through a regulated trading platform. And as equities join the network, Keplr will provide for direct, self-custodied ownership of OPEN-issued equities, making it the first third-party self-custodied wallet to integrate with OPEN.

“We are thrilled at how both moomoo and Keplr are democratizing access to the public equity market,” said Mike Cagney, Figure’s co-founder and chairman. “We see this as the beginning of an entirely new public equity capital market.”

The company says that—along with the Figure Markets app—the integrations show how public equities can trade and settle natively on blockchain while staying accessible through both brokerage and self-custody models. Figure aims to begin offering its own stock—the first on OPEN—in the weeks ahead.

Elsewhere from the blockchain space, PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster and Citi’s Ryan Rugg discussed the state of the industry on a recent episode of the “From the Block” podcast.

“I think that we’re at an inflection point right now,” said Rugg, global head of digital assets for Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions. “What I do think is we start to see a shift in the conversation, not should we, but how much?”

Right now, institutional allocations to digital assets tend to hover in the neighborhood of 1% to 2%. That figure may not surge dramatically this year, but what’s changing is the tone of the dialogue. Infrastructure is maturing, custody frameworks are clearer and risk models, accounting treatment and internal approvals are all becoming normalized.

Asked by Webster whether this normalization suggests growth in exposure or simply broader participation at modest levels, Rugg opted for the latter.

“It’s not just the hoodies anymore,” she said. “The suits and ties have arrived.”