Another Crypto IPO Hits the Market and Most People Still Have No Idea What Crypto Is

Blockchain-based lender Figure Technology Solutions has officially filed for an initial public offering, marking another move by crypto-related firms seeking a slice of the trillion-dollar machine of public markets.

Both crypto bros and the banks that love them are already celebrating the move to go public, which they say marks a significant milestone in the evolving intersection of cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, and mainstream finance.

Analysts posit that this signals a broader shift in how people previously unfamiliar with crypto are getting more comfortable investing in it.

“Crypto is becoming one of the big pillars of the IPO market,” IPOX CEO Josef Schuster told Reuters, referring to companies going public through blank-check mergers.

That thus far has gone against all logic provided by recent polls, which have shown at least 60% of people asked, and sometimes as many as 90%, have absolutely no idea what crypto is or how it works but would definitely not put their own money in it.

“It just seems questionable,” one respondent to this National Cryptocurrency Association poll said in July 2025.

Figure CEO Mike Cagney nodded to this proof-of-concept or no dice investor attitude in a 2021 interview.

“When we started back in 2018, I think our hope was that we could just be a blockchain-technology company and not have to build another lending business and a payments business and everything else,” Cagney said. “What became very clear to us early on is that the world wasn’t ready to lean into blockchain the way that we were, so we created these operating businesses.”

Why does it matter for crypto?

This IPO, however, may show a slight softening of that for crypto companies that actually appear to, or can prove, that they do something tangible.

Figure’s focus on practical applications—such as offering crypto-backed loans and using blockchain for transparent, faster underwriting —shows a little bit more transparently how blockchain can be integrated into core financial services.

Its website shows it uses Alphabet Inc.’s Google Gemini chatbot and tech from OpenAI Inc. to sift through loan applications.

This approach is reminiscent of how banks and fintech firms like SoFi and Robinhood (which went public in 2021 and 2019, respectively) are leveraging technology to reinvent traditional banking (Robinhood IPO).

The company’s use of artificial intelligence alongside its blockchain platform further underscores the increasing convergence of innovative technologies in finance, akin to PayPal’s recent investments in AI-driven payment solutions.

Unlike earlier crypto firms mired in regulatory controversies, Figure’s massive 22% jump in second half of the year results and its backing by prominent institutional investors like Apollo Global Management and Ribbit Capital may also lend credibility to blockchain’s role in mainstream finance.

This trend echoes similar moves by companies such as Coinbase, which raked in an eye-watering $85 billion valuation when it went public in 2021—which simultaneously backed crypto as a legitimate asset and made it more confusing, depending on who you asked.

What the hell is Figure anyway?

Co-founded by Cagney, who previously helped launch another major blockchain booster and fintech SoFi Technologies, Figure helps create loans.

The company says that thus far it has shelled out $16 billion in loans, including home equity lines of credit, crypto-backed loans, and digital asset exchanges, all of which bring the blockchain into consumer finance.

Shares are expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol FIGR.

The New York City-based company, founded in 2018, is likely hoping to get a bite of the current landscape, where digital assets and blockchain technology are increasingly intersecting with mainstream finance.

That is still a controversial move.

According to its recent SEC filing, Figure posted a net income of $29.1 million on revenues of $43.8 million for the first half of 2025, a notable turnaround from a net loss of $15.6 million on $12.5 million in revenue during the same period a year earlier.

The company first announced its intention to go public earlier this month through a confidential filing. Prior funding rounds, including a 2021 venture-backed raise, valued the company at $3.2 billion.