--- title: "Figure Markets Review 2026: Who Borrows in Democratized Prime, What Secures It, and What Lenders Hold" url: https://altstreet.investments/platforms/reviews/figure-markets kind: platform-review updated: 2026-10-31 description: "Figure Markets review 2026: Democratized Prime lets anyone lend YLDS from $10, but on chain Figure affiliates are the main borrowers, Figure prices the collateral, one address alone can liquidate, and threshold crossings were cured by the borrower, never liquidated." publisher: AltStreet (https://altstreet.investments) license: Public factual pages may be read, quoted and cited with attribution and a link. Bulk redistribution is not permitted. --- # Figure Markets Review 2026: Who Borrows in Democratized Prime, What Secures It, and What Lenders Hold Figure Markets is the markets brand of Figure Technology Solutions (Nasdaq: FIGR): a crypto exchange, an ATS for its parent's blockchain shares, crypto-backed loans, and Democratized Prime, a lending marketplace where anyone who passes KYC can lend YLDS from $10 into pools backed by home equity, auto, small business and crypto-backed loans. The pools' state is public on the Provenance blockchain. It shows that Figure affiliates borrow in the HELOC+ pool and, by AltStreet's inference from a balance match, in the largest smart-contract pool; that Figure prices the collateral; that one address owns every smart-contract pool and is the only party able to liquidate; and that when the SMB borrower read above the liquidation threshold, on five daily snapshots, the borrower restored the position each time and nothing was liquidated. AltStreet score: 45.6 (C), scored October 31, 2026. Method: https://altstreet.investments/platforms | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Platform | Figure Markets | | What it is | Lending Marketplace and Crypto Exchange: Democratized Prime Pools on the Provenance Blockchain, Figure Exchange and Figure ATS, Listed Parent | | Asset class | Pooled lending of YLDS against home equity, auto, small business and crypto-backed loan collateral; crypto trading | | Website | figuremarkets.com | | Review first published | October 31, 2026 | | Last updated | October 31, 2026 | | AltStreet relationship | None: no affiliate, sponsorship or partnership | ## The short version Figure Markets puts several Figure businesses under one brand; this review centers on Democratized Prime, the part that asks users to lend. Three questions frame it. Who borrows: in the HELOC+ auction pool the borrower is Figure Lending LLC, a Figure affiliate, and the parent's own filings show it borrowing through Democratized Prime ($347.7 million at June 30, 2026, $306.3 million of it from related parties). In the smart-contract pools each pool had one borrower account; the account borrowing in the Home Equity and Crypto-Backed Loan pools owed 347,754,000 YLDS at the June 30 month-end block, within $29,000 of the parent's figure, so AltStreet attributes it to Figure, an inference no document confirms. What secures it: participation tokens in Figure trust loan portfolios, valued by Figure's own pricing algorithm and oracle. The contracts separate a 0.95 margin level, a 0.98 margin call and a 1.0 liquidation threshold; the SMB borrower read at or above 1.0 on five daily snapshots (August 22 to 24 and October 25 and 26, 2026), each time restored within days by added collateral or repayment, and none of the 17,197 transactions executed on the four pools is a liquidation. Only the one address that owns every pool can liquidate, and the terms describe liquidation as something that may happen, not something that must. What lenders hold: they convert dollars to YLDS, Figure Certificate Company's registered face-amount certificate, supply it to a pool for receipt tokens (a claim on the pool) or an auction loan position, withdraw YLDS when liquidity allows, and redeem YLDS for dollars; Figure does not guarantee repayment. - **$347.7M** Democratized Prime YLDS the parent owed at June 30, 2026 as a borrower on its own platform ($41.4 million to third parties, $306.3 million to related parties, 10-Q). The account borrowing in the Home Equity and Crypto-Backed Loan pools owed 347,754,000 YLDS on chain at the same month-end block (height 31972285), within $29,000 of the filing's $347,725,000; attributing it to Figure is AltStreet's inference from that match. - **5 snapshots** Daily snapshots on which the SMB pool contract read its borrower at or above the 1.0 liquidation threshold: August 22 to 24 (1.0001 to 1.0005) and October 25 and 26 (1.022). Each episode ended with the borrower adding collateral or repaying; no liquidation appears among the four pools' 17,197 transactions. Home Equity crossed the 0.98 margin-call level once (0.981, October 29) and never reached 1.0. - **1 address** Owns and administers all four smart-contract pools and is the only party permitted to liquidate ('la':'owner_only'); its signing arrangements are not public. The same unlabeled borrower account is the OTC address on all five forge collateral contracts. - **$767.7M** YLDS supplied to the four smart-contract pools on October 30, 2026, $576.2 million of it lent out (AltStreet's chain read). The parent reports a different measure, $588 million of matched offers across Democratized Prime at September 30; the homepage panel ($4,517,361 of current loans) does not say which product it counts. - **$10** Minimum to lend in a smart-contract pool, with KYC and no accredited-investor test. Lenders receive YLDS interest and can withdraw 'only up to the amount permitted by the Protocol and subject to Available Liquidity'. - **96% and 99%** Share of Figure Exchange volume from the top seven trading customers in Q1 2025 and 2024, per the company's disclosure as quoted by SEC staff. The 10-K says neither the exchange nor Democratized Prime produced material revenue in 2025. Data note: Pool figures are AltStreet's reads of the Provenance blockchain at recorded block heights (one read per day at the last block before midnight UTC) and are in YLDS, counted at its $1.00 redemption value. Health flags and loan-to-value are the contracts' own readings, with collateral valued by Figure's oracle. Day counts are daily snapshots, not continuous observation; liquidation, repayment and collateral history comes from all 17,197 transactions executed on the four pool contracts through October 31, 2026. Company figures are from the parent's SEC filings and metric releases, which define Democratized Prime size as 'Matched Offers'. Auction pools (HELOC+, margin, FGRS) run on an internal ledger and are not on chain. ## Key figures | Figure | What it is | Context | | --- | --- | --- | | $347.7M | Figure is a borrower on its own lending marketplace. | Democratized Prime YLDS the parent owed at June 30, 2026, $306.3 million of it to related parties. The account borrowing in the Home Equity and Crypto-Backed Loan pools owed 347,754,000 YLDS on chain at the same month-end block (height 31972285), within $29,000 of the filing's $347,725,000; attributing it to Figure is AltStreet's inference from that match. | | 5 snapshots | Daily snapshots on which the SMB pool contract read its borrower at or above the 1.0 liquidation threshold. | August 22 to 24 and October 25 and 26, 2026; each cured by added collateral or repayment; no liquidation in 17,197 pool transactions. | | 1 address | Owns all four smart-contract pools and alone can liquidate. | Signing arrangements not public; pools can be modified or suspended without notice. | | 0 | Enforcement actions located in the sources searched against 18 group entities and 24 people. | AltStreet tables, BrokerCheck, IAPD, CFPB; NMLS and several state registers could not be read. | ## Verdict Democratized Prime publishes more of its state than most lending platforms: anyone can read the pools on chain. What that record shows is a marketplace where Figure is the main borrower (by its filings, and by inference in the largest pool), Figure prices the collateral and Figure's address alone decides liquidations; when the SMB borrower crossed the liquidation threshold, the borrower cured it and nothing was liquidated. Lenders hold claims denominated in YLDS and can leave only as liquidity allows. **Best for** - Users who understand they are lending largely to Figure, in YLDS, and who watch the pool state themselves. **Look elsewhere if** - You need dollars back on demand. - You want collateral valued and enforced by someone other than the borrower's group. - You live in New York: residents are excluded from the exchange, and lending eligibility is not stated. **Strengths** - Pool balances, rates and borrower positions are public on the Provenance blockchain. - Listed, KPMG-audited parent with monthly metric releases. - Published terms, addenda and participation agreements; no enforcement action located. **Limitations** - Figure affiliates are the main borrowers; borrowers are unlabeled or self-labeled. - Collateral priced by Figure; liquidation reserved to one address and never used to date. - Lender positions are denominated in YLDS; withdrawals depend on available liquidity. - Fee terms are stated in different units across documents, and the filings do not describe the Live Rate pools' parameters. ## Who it fits | Investor | Fit | Why | | --- | --- | --- | | Users comfortable lending to Figure itself in YLDS | neutral | | | Investors who want independent collateral protection | poor-fit | | | Investors who need to exit on demand | poor-fit | | ## Questions **Is Figure Markets legit?** Figure Markets is the markets brand of Figure Technology Solutions, a Nasdaq-listed company audited by KPMG. Its exchange is run by a licensed money transmitter and its ATS by a FINRA broker-dealer. AltStreet located no enforcement action against the group or its executives in the sources it searched, though several state registers could not be read. Seven 2026 data-breach lawsuits were voluntarily dismissed. **Who borrows on Democratized Prime?** In the HELOC+ pool, Figure Lending LLC, a Figure affiliate. In the smart-contract pools each pool had one borrower; the Home Equity and Crypto-Backed Loan borrower's debt was within $29,000 of the $347.7 million the parent reported owing through Democratized Prime at June 30, 2026. The Automobile and SMB borrowers carry the self-declared labels 'Agora Vehicle Trust 2025-2' and 'Credibly'. **Is Democratized Prime safe?** Loans are overcollateralized by stated ratio, but Figure prices the collateral and only Figure's address can liquidate. When the SMB borrower crossed the liquidation threshold, it was the borrower that restored the position; no liquidation has ever run. Figure does not guarantee repayment or withdrawal, and lenders' positions and withdrawals are in YLDS. No liquidation appears in the pools' transaction history and no loss has been published. **Can I withdraw my money anytime?** Only as liquidity allows. Smart-contract pools let lenders withdraw 'only up to the amount permitted by the Protocol and subject to Available Liquidity', and the pools were 70% to 95% lent out on October 30, 2026. Withdrawals are in YLDS, which is then redeemed for dollars. **What does Democratized Prime pay?** Rates vary by pool and hour. On October 30, 2026 lender rates were 5.40% (Home Equity), 9.51% (Automobile), 6.27% (SMB) and 8.54% (Crypto-Backed Loan); the homepage showed 9.0% for the auction structure. Platform fees of 50 bp a year or a reserve factor of up to 5.883% of interest (about 0.5 percentage points at an 8.5% rate) come out of pool interest. ## Evidence appendix Platform website captured October 31, 2026. figuremarkets.com and linked figure.com pages (about 60), 36 disclosure pages and nine PDFs; the parent's SEC filings and staff correspondence; registers and court records; Provenance chain reads (daily from May 11 to October 30, 2026, plus snapshots on October 31) and Figure's public pool feed. **Highlights** - HELOC+ Addendum: 'The 'Repo Seller' is Figure Lending LLC.' - HELOC+ Addendum: 'IN THE EVENT OF AN INSOLVENCY BY THE REPO SELLER, ANY PLEDGE TO THE DEMO PRIME TRUST 2 WILL BE CONSIDERED A SALE.' - General Terms: 'there is not necessarily a perfected security interest in such Collateral for the benefit of the Lender'. - Smart Contract Pool Addendum: 'No member of the Figure Group guarantees any rate, return, repayment, collateral value, liquidation outcome, protocol operation, Available Liquidity, or ability to withdraw'. - 10-K: 'Democratized Prime had not generated material revenue as we have provided the initial assets to support the platform while we build out funding distribution.' **Primary source pages** - Democratized Prime General Terms and Conditions (May 20, 2026) and the October 22, 2025 PDF linked from the homepage. - HELOC+ Addendum (December 17, 2025); FGRS and YLDS-Margin addenda (February 17, 2026); Smart Contract Pool Addendum (August 25, 2026). - Master Participation Agreements: Home Equity forge (effective June 8, 2026) and Agora auto (effective June 9, 2026). - Figure Technology Solutions 10-K for 2025 and 10-Q for June 30, 2026 (Democratized Prime YLDS liabilities, fees, revenue, volume). - Prospectuses of September 11, 2025 (segment results, recombination) and February 18, 2026 (Democratized Prime mechanics). - SEC staff correspondence of June 6, 2025 (exchange volume concentration) and later letters on YLDS and HASH. - Provenance contracts: the four Democratized Prime pools (code 59), the price oracle (code 60) and the five forge contracts (code 58). - Pool contracts: Home Equity pb1lgdznp6dyljdq40xvcknkzcgelh2es0udwnx9rzn7c5q55435l3sx6v5a6; Automobile pb1gqw3m5ftuu0hdcj646ppgmrp7ual3kkjj2wq6usqsfe0ntfmsc7s8fh70c; SMB pb10n4myppf5kwdzdquhfaf822eaavekejk08afj8wwx2vw4jszcwls82t2kx; Crypto-Backed Loan pb1msvy4f0vcdm9kx4x56lrk5ctlnh88ag84k4ggskywzwvf2nzlmtqnm5ged. Home Equity and Crypto-Backed Loan borrower pb1whzz6j94tfsz2nyhqd2xu4ctfru28lj4zaa5npr5w39r6yy2slnsvyft3; SMB borrower pb1gk2uyf5nql9khk72d760a37an8zn0xzjyu4r0a2wtvwvzy92032qa0lpy. - Block heights behind the principal readings (pio-mainnet-1, last block before midnight UTC): June 30, 2026 31972285 (borrower debt 347,754,000 YLDS); SMB at or above 1.0 on August 22 to 24 (33017345, 33037280, 33057118) and October 25 and 26 (34290946, 34310866); SMB 0.935 on October 28 (34350606); Home Equity 0.981 on October 29 (34370481). Readings are get_reserve and get_borrower_position smart queries at those heights through api.provenance.io with the x-cosmos-block-height header. - Transactions: all 17,197 executed on the four pool contracts through October 31, 2026, by wasm action (no liquidation; 69 repay; 190 add_collateral). SMB add_collateral October 27 at height 34324287 and repayments of about 2.37 million YLDS on October 28 (for example 1948A12D5376B644E591A10DC954CB3960D204348972964781767571AD25E41F); Home Equity repay of 21,000,000 YLDS on October 30 (2E855EF147900D7ED6B6DBB9DA8C9F2CF19BA010B42B0A4D6C5CEAF8340476A9). Each is readable at api.provenance.io/cosmos/tx/v1beta1/txs/. ## Related - Full review (HTML): https://altstreet.investments/platforms/reviews/figure-markets - Every platform review: https://altstreet.investments/platforms/reviews - Methodology and scoring: https://altstreet.investments/platforms - Category hub: https://altstreet.investments/categories/private-credit --- Source page: https://altstreet.investments/platforms/reviews/figure-markets Machine index: https://altstreet.investments/llms.txt AltStreet reads what platforms, funds and issuers file with the SEC and what they tell investors, and publishes the difference. Figures are as filed or as captured on the date stated; nothing here is investment advice.