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Figure Technology Solutions said it has launched what it describes as a blockchain-native public equity instrument, making “FGRD” available on its On-chain Public Equity Network (OPEN), with issuance, trading and settlement recorded directly on-chain rather than routed through traditional clearing and custody pipes. The rollout was reported by PYMNTS, which cited CoinDesk and quoted company officials describing near-instant finality and direct blockchain recording of ownership transfers.
Coverage of the launch framed FGRD as an SEC-registered public equity issued on OPEN and accessible via the Figure Markets app, with functionality described as buying, trading, lending and borrowing the instrument and with settlement described as T+0 and “atomic” exchange of funds and shares.
Figure’s broader OPEN initiative was outlined earlier in a company announcement stating that OPEN runs on the Provenance Blockchain, that equities are intended to be “blockchain registered” rather than tokenized representations of DTCC-registered securities, and that trading occurs on a limit order book via Figure’s alternative trading system (ATS). The same announcement said BitGo had agreed to provide qualified custody services for eligible shareholders who require it and that Jump Trading LLC was preparing to be onboarded as a market maker.
The event sits within an SEC-registered offering context referenced in Figure’s Nasdaq-distributed materials, which stated that a registration statement had been declared effective by the SEC on February 17, 2026 and described a public offering of shares of “Series A Blockchain Common Stock.” The release also identified traditional intermediaries supporting the transaction, including Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., underscoring that the instrument is being presented as part of a conventional U.S. securities issuance process even as settlement is positioned as on-chain.
For RWA markets, the development is operationally non-trivial because Figure is explicitly positioning OPEN equities as native, blockchain-registered securities rather than “wrappers” around DTCC-held shares, and because the model relies on regulated trading-venue structure (an ATS) alongside optional qualified custody arrangements. Those components—registered issuance, secondary trading venue mechanics, and custody pathways—are key constraints for tokenized real-estate and other RWA products seeking compliant distribution and transferability in the U.S. securities framework.
In practice, the launch primarily affects issuers exploring on-chain issuance formats, investors accessing OPEN-listed instruments through broker and wallet pathways described in coverage, and service providers involved in custody, market making, and post-trade processes. It also touches regulators and market-structure stakeholders because the company’s stated approach emphasizes bypassing legacy clearing/custody workflows while remaining within an SEC-registered offering and ATS-based trading context.
