Fintech One-on-One
How Figure Is Cutting Mortgage Costs From $12,000 to $1,000, with CEO Michael Tannenbaum
Why It Matters
By dramatically reducing fees and timelines, Figure’s model could make home financing more affordable for millions of Americans, reshaping an industry traditionally dominated by government‑backed entities. The episode is timely as fintechs seek scalable, low‑cost alternatives to legacy mortgage pipelines, and Figure’s public debut signals growing investor confidence in blockchain‑driven financial infrastructure.
Key Takeaways
- •Figure rivals Fannie Mae, offering blockchain underwriting and capital markets.
- •Mortgage costs drop from $12k to $1k, time five days.
- •Platform serves 300 partners, $1.3B monthly, 100% YoY growth.
- •CEO prioritizes big‑rock focus, IPO, and broader asset tokenization.
- •First to achieve AAA‑rated blockchain loan securitizations with Sixth Street
Pulse Analysis
Figure has positioned itself as a direct competitor to traditional agencies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by delivering a fully blockchain‑enabled underwriting engine and an integrated capital‑markets marketplace. The end‑to‑end solution eliminates most manual steps, slashing average mortgage origination expenses from roughly $12,000 to $1,000 and compressing a typical 45‑day cycle into just five days. This dramatic efficiency gain is reshaping how fintechs and credit unions originate loans, allowing them to enter the mortgage space without the legacy infrastructure that once limited them.
Under CEO Michael Tannenbaum, Figure has embraced a "big‑rock" strategy that concentrates on a handful of high‑impact goals: scaling the platform, preparing for a public offering, and expanding tokenized asset classes beyond home‑equity lines. The company now supports about 300 partner banks, credit unions, and fintechs, processing roughly $1.3 billion of loan volume each month—a $24 billion cumulative run rate—while posting 100 % year‑over‑year growth and 50 % profit margins. This rapid expansion underscores the market’s appetite for a seamless, blockchain‑driven mortgage pipeline that combines origination, servicing, and liquidity in one unified stack.
Figure’s blockchain foundation also enables sophisticated tokenization and securitization of consumer loans. The firm pioneered the first AAA‑rated, blockchain‑backed loan securitizations and secured a joint‑venture partnership with asset manager Sixth Street, providing a permanent buyer and guarantor for its assets. By standardizing loan data on an immutable ledger, Figure reduces third‑party diligence by up to 80 % and offers unprecedented liquidity for lenders. These innovations are prompting the broader financial industry to reconsider legacy processes, positioning blockchain not just as a novelty but as a practical engine for modern capital markets.
Episode Description
Michael Tannenbaum became CEO of Figure in early 2024, taking over from founder Mike Cagney and leading the company through its September 2025 IPO. In this conversation, we get into the mechanics of how Figure's blockchain-based platform competes with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, what it actually takes to cut mortgage origination costs from $12,000 to $1,000, and where the real opportunities in tokenization lie.
What We Covered
Taking over as CEO from Mike Cagney and the Big Rocks framework
How Figure describes itself: building the future of capital markets on blockchain
The B2B partner network and how it compares to Fannie Mae's function
Cutting mortgage origination costs from $12,000 to $1,000 and 45 days to five
Why Figure competes directly with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
How blockchain eliminates third-party diligence and prevents loan double-pledging
The Figure Connect marketplace and its rapid growth since June 2024
Where tokenization adds real value — and where it doesn't
YLDS: Figure's SEC-registered yield-bearing stablecoin and its role in capital markets
The timing and mechanics of Figure's September 2025 IPO
Building a rate-agnostic business across different macro environments
Three growth areas: consumer mortgages, Democratized Prime, and on-chain equities
Key Takeaways
Figure's origination platform and its capital market are the same system — you can't separate them, and that's the competitive moat. Tokenization only creates liquidity when the underlying assets are standardized and fungible; putting unique assets on a blockchain doesn't conjure buyers. The recent fraud cases involving double-pledged loans (Tricolor, First Brands, MFS) have turned blockchain's immutability from a skeptic's objection into a selling point. And Figure is running at what Michael calls the rule of 150 — 100% year-over-year growth at 50% margins — in one of the most rate-sensitive and entrenched markets on earth.
About Michael Tannenbaum
Michael Tannenbaum is the CEO of Figure, a blockchain-based capital markets company he took public on Nasdaq in September 2025. Before Figure, he was an early executive at both SoFi (Chief Revenue Officer) and Brex (COO), and sat on the Brex board when it was acquired by Capital One. He began his career in investment banking at J.P. Morgan.
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