Figure Technology Solutions Inc. has started to formally market 4.23 million shares of its so-called blockchain-native stock to investors, as the financial technology firm joins the race to revolutionize share trading infrastructure.
The blockchain technology firm plans to price the sale after the market closes in New York on Feb. 17, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as the information isn’t public. A group of unidentified shareholders are offering the stock, which will trade on Figure’s own blockchain-based alternative trading system, rather than the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Figure, co-founded by former SoFi Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mike Cagney, is entering the hotly contested rivalry among fintech firms and exchanges to move stock trading onto platforms that incorporate so-called decentralized finance technology such as the blockchain. Potential benefits cited by the companies include the ability to trade 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Shares of Figure rose 3.8% to $35.37 each at 11:35 a.m. in New York on Friday. The company’s stock is down sharply from record high of $78 on Jan. 20, reversing a surge following its $905.6 million initial public offering in September.
A representative for Figure didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The blockchain shares will be convertible into common shares on a one-for-one basis, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Figure plans to repurchase as much as $30 million shares subsequent to the offering’s closing, the filing shows.
In the announcement of the initiative in November, Figure said holders of the new blockchain stock would be able borrow against and lend the stock on its own blockchain, replacing the stock-based lending role of prime brokers.
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Figure expected to report adjusted Ebitda of $80 million to $83 million on net income of $158 million to $162 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, according to a statementBloomberg Terminal earlier on Friday.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and Cantor Fitzgerald are working on Figure’s share offering.
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