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Mike Cagney
How Blockchain & Bitcoin Are Reshaping Wall Street | Mike Cagney
- Mike Cagney took Figure public and believes blockchain-native digital securities unlock massive value through reduced costs, better liquidity, and new financing opportunities in capital markets. - Figure built infrastructure for originating, securitizing, and trading loans on blockchain, then created direct-to-consumer products (HELOCs, mortgages, Bitcoin-backed loans) to demonstrate the technology's value. - The Genius Act legalized stablecoins for payments, and Cagney views this as the beginning of serious disruption to regional and super-regional banks as deposits migrate to DeFi lending platforms. - Figure launched Yields, a blockchain-native interest-bearing stablecoin structured as a security, offering approximately 4% yield and enabling peer-to-peer transfers without intermediaries. - Regulatory environment shifted dramatically from enforcement-heavy to innovation-friendly, and Cagney expects the Clarity Act will codify DeFi protections and reshape capital markets infrastructure. - Bitcoin-backed loans with liquidation protection via put options represent a new lending paradigm that preserves borrower exposure to Bitcoin upside while eliminating forced selling.
Mike Cagney, Co-Founder & CEO of Figure: The Inevitable Automation of Blockchain in Finance
- Figure is a financial services platform originating home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) and mortgages, currently funding $80 million per month in loans entirely on blockchain, growing from a few million in September. - Providence, Figure's custom-built blockchain designed specifically for financial asset origination and securitization, differs fundamentally from general-purpose ledgers like Ethereum or Bitcoin by prioritizing throughput, data management, and regulatory compliance. - Blockchain application in finance eliminates intermediaries (custodians, trustees, auditors) and creates immutable records of asset provenance, reducing origination costs by 25–50 basis points and potentially saving 200 basis points across the entire securitization ecosystem. - Mike Cagney argues blockchain will eventually become the standard infrastructure for financial markets, replacing traditional exchanges (NYSE, NASDAQ) and registrars (DTC, MERS) due to economies of scale and superior efficiency. - Figure engaged regulators from inception, treating Providence's native token as a security and approaching the SEC proactively; Cagney views regulatory oversight as essential rather than obstructive to long-term adoption. - Information symmetry on Providence (real-time visibility into loan performance versus traditional 30-day reporting) improves market liquidity and execution, potentially worth over 100 basis points in transaction value.