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n 2024, crypto finally went mainstream. The approval of a dozen spot bitcoin ETFs triggered a flood of institutional capital, transforming what had been a market dominated by retail speculators into one gaining broader acceptance on Wall Street. Then came Donald Trump’s election victory, which sent digital assets soaring on hopes that his administration would usher in a golden age for crypto. By December, bitcoin had shattered the $100,000 mark.
Trump’s pro-crypto stance became clear early, marked by key appointments and orders: entrepreneur and venture capitalist David Sacks was named AI and Crypto Czar, Scott Bessent took over at Treasury, and former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins was nominated to lead the regulatory agency. Trump also signed an executive order titled “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology,” which, among other initiatives, called for the assessment of a “national digital asset stockpile.”
In this climate, firms like Figure, Securitize, and Fireblocks thrived, riding some of the industry’s most prominent trends.
Take tokenized real-world assets (RWAs)—a concept that has evolved from buzzword to billion-dollar business. Case in point: Figure, cofounded by former SoFi CEO Mike Cagney, is applying blockchain technology to traditional lending, having tokenized more than $13 billion in home equity lines of credit. Securitize, meanwhile, partnered with BlackRock to launch BUIDL, a tokenized U.S. treasury product that has already attracted $640 million in investments.
Then there’s Fireblocks, a leader in crypto infrastructure. Having secured over $6 trillion in digital asset transactions, the company isn’t slowing down. It recently introduced a state-regulated custody platform and AI-driven trading optimization tools designed to meet the growing needs of institutional clients.
Here are the three fintech companies that made the Fintech 50 in 2025:
Figure
Headquarters: New York, New York.
Cofounded by former SoFi CEO Mike Cagney, Figure uses technology to speed up the process of getting a home equity line of credit (HELOC). It also has a customized blockchain platform that tokenizes (i.e., securitizes) and sells HELOCs to yield-hungry investors through its own private credit marketplace. Figure’s revenue grew by more than 50% in 2024 to $321 million, up from $196 million in 2023, with a 55% gross profit margin. Some 70% of its 150,000 clients have come through its more than 200 fintech and mortgage banking partners, including real estate platforms such as RATE (formerly Guaranteed Rate) and Intuit’s Credit Karma. In April, Michael Tannenbaum, a former Brex executive, became CEO and Cagney became executive chair.
Funding: $500 million from Apollo, Morgan Creek and Ribbit, among others.
Latest valuation: $3.2 billion.
Date of last valuation: May 2021.
Bona fides: Its software has been used to originate more than $13 billion of HELOCs.
Cofounders: Executive chair Mike Cagney, 53; June Ou, 59, previously president and now an advisor.
CEO: Michael Tannenbaum, who previously held roles as chief revenue officer at SoFi and chief operating officer at Brex before joining Figure in 2024.
Fireblocks
Headquarters: New York, New York.
Its software helps investors, as well as institutions like Worldpay, Revolut, BNP Paribas and BNY Mellon, hold cryptocurrencies securely. The company, which was unprofitable in 2024 despite booking $124 million in revenue, is spending big on new initiatives to support the digital asset activities of everyone from banks to startups. Notable product launches over the past year include a New York state regulated limited-purpose trust company designed to offer bank-grade custody to clients and an artificial intelligence tool that helps clients be more responsive to market events with their trading activity.
Funding: $1 billion from Spark Capital, Cyberstarts and Coatue, among others.
Latest valuation: $8 billion.
Date of last valuation: January 2022.
Bona fides: Since founding, its infrastructure has supported more than $6 trillion in trades.
Cofounders: CEO Michael Shaulov, 42, who previously founded cyber security startup Lacoon Mobile Security; chief technology officer Pavel Berengoltz, 48; chief product officer Idan Ofrat, 43.
Securitize
Headquarters: Miami, Florida.
Securitize puts real world assets like Treasuries or private equity shares on blockchains to make them easy for investors to buy and sell. Its flagship product is BUIDL, a tokenized treasury product launched in March 2024 in partnership with BlackRock, which has $11 trillion in assets under management. BUIDL currently holds $640 million in assets. In October 2024, Securitize launched an expanded suite of fund administration services.
Funding: $170 million from BlackRock, Blockchain Capital and Morgan Stanley, among others.
Latest valuation: $479 million.
Date of last valuation: July 2022.
Bona fides: It has tokenized more than $1 billion in total assets with partners including BlackRock, Hamilton Lane and KKR.
Cofounders: CEO Carlos Domingo, 54; president Jamie Finn, 47.
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