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Mike Cagney

Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, Figure

Search every verified Mike Cagney interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Mike Cagney, co-founder and executive chairman of Figure, has been discussing the company's use of blockchain to originate and manage real-world assets on-chain. In recent interviews, he stated that Figure has originated more than $25 billion of assets on-chain and described the company's goal of disintermediating capital allocation by bringing it directly to sources and uses. He noted that Goldman Sachs uses Figure's blockchain for warehouse lending and that the company has issued its own equity natively on the blockchain. Cagney also commented on the potential for DeFi capital to lower borrowing costs for consumers, saying that stablecoin allocated to a DeFi protocol in Indonesia could reduce a mortgage rate in Virginia. Cagney has also shared his views on the broader blockchain and crypto industry. He described blockchain as "maybe the most disruptive technology we'll ever have in our lifetimes" and argued that tokenized assets should be treated as securities. He criticized existing crypto wallet designs as providing a poor user experience and expressed interest in bringing fintech design principles to web3 wallets. Regarding regulation, Cagney said that legislative clarity would codify current regulatory intentions into law, which he described as defensible for companies like Figure. He also predicted that within 10 years there would be a wholesale transition of capital markets onto blockchain.

Recent appearances

Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“I think we actually are better off saying it is equity in the network and approaching it that way and treating it as a security.”

“We were looking to do was effectively disintermediate capital allocation and bring it directly to the sources and uses and that's what we've been able to effectively do with figure.”

“I think that's a horrible model. Yeah. And you know there there was and I I won't say who there one of my venture investors um you know back in in 21 asked me to to diligence their FTX investment. And I went and I looked at it and I'm like, I wouldn't do this investment. It had nothing to do with the fact I thought there was fraud or whatever. And you know, obviously the headline numbers were phenomenal, but I'm like”

“I think that's a horrible model. Yeah. And you know there there was and I I won't say who there one of my venture investors um you know back in in 21 asked me to to diligence their FTX investment. And I went and I looked at it and I'm like, I wouldn't do this investment. It had nothing to do with the fact I thought there was fraud or whatever. And you know, obviously the headline numbers were phenomenal, but I'm like”

“I think the biggest and most obvious initial thing is just the sheer size and scope, right, of how big the actual capital markets are and how small they are in blockchain. And that, you know, as I said, like like $12 billion of stable coin on a DeFi protocol is immaterial. And but that would be the biggest protocol out there, right? And and so, you know, we need to get a hundred billion and then a trillion dollars ov”

“The single biggest driver of putting equities on chain is so the shareholder can directly benefit from the control of stock lending. Because today, you don't get it, right? Bro, the prime broker takes it.”

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