Blockchain startup Figure Technologies is no longer seeking a national bank charter, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Figure, which was started by former SoFi CEO Mike Cagney, withdrew its application for a bank charter Monday.
Figure first applied for a bank charter in 2020, saying at the time that a national charter would simplify the complexity of its business and allow it to serve more underrepresented customers.
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors, however, sued the OCC to block the application’s progress. Figure’s application did not include plans to get federal deposit insurance, and the CSBS argued that the OCC lacks the authority to charter a full-service national bank without obtaining deposit insurance under the National Bank Act. Figure then updated its application to include plans to seek deposit insurance from the FDIC.
While the CSBS dropped its lawsuit, Figure never secured a national bank charter.
“Figure has made the decision to withdraw our banking charter application as we focus the organization on other areas of growth with a broad set of established bank partners,” a spokesperson told Banking Dive via email.
Figure has seen another challenge recently in the form of job cuts. The company last week cut 20% of its staff, or 90 employees, according to Bloomberg — adding it to the ranks of many prominent crypto-adjacent companies who have done the same this year.
But it’s hardly all gloomy: Figure is also planning to take its lending arm, LendCo, public early next year, according to the wire service. Cagney expects LendCo to land a $2.5 billion public valuation, he said in a letter seen by Bloomberg.
