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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