Founded: 2018
Headquarters: Toronto, Ontario
Figment is a Canadian-based blockchain infrastructure and crypto staking provider. Figment develops back-end systems and infrastructure that provide yield on tokens for PoS (Proof of Stake) blockchains.
Key Facts
Figment is one of the world’s largest blockchain infrastructure and services providers that develops back-end systems and infrastructure that provide yield on digital tokens and other assets.
Figment’s mission is to support the adoption, growth, and long-term success of Web 3 - the next generation of the Internet. Figment’s unique approach is making it simple to build on the next generation of blockchain technology. The company supports this mission in 3 ways:
Staking - Figment operates a highly secure network of Proof-of-Stake (PoS) validators that enable token holders to secure networks, participate in governance, and earn yield.
Software - Figment’s DataHub platform lets developers use the most powerful and unique features of a blockchain without having to become protocol experts, accelerating the development of new Web 3 applications.
Capital - Figment Capital offers seed funding and growth support to new, highly innovative PoS projects.
Figment offers staking and software support for over 60+ PoS networks with a robust pipeline of future additions.
Figment’s team of 20+ Protocol Specialists dives deep into individual networks and provides expert insight into key industry issues including governance, economics, and taxation.
Figment’s developer platform, DataHub, allows entrepreneurs to build on the blockchains Figment supports, encouraging the adoption of Web3 and creating close ties with the protocols it supports. DataHub now supports hundreds of development teams doing billions of requests a month across 15 PoS networks.
With DataHub developers can deploy applications to any of the top smart contract platforms instantly with Figment’s suite of reliable APIs while still maintaining control over the entire tech stack. DataHub empowers developers to leverage the full potential of Web3 by integrating indexing, storage, oracles, identity and more on top of its node services.
Figment’s enterprise-grade infrastructure, SLAs (service-level agreements), and slashing insurance allow its clients to participate in PoS networks safely and securely across a growing range of networks that support the diverse ecosystems being built above them. Figment Networks is one of the few transcoders offering a service-level agreement (SLA), which guarantees compensation for missed rewards arising from any failure in performance.
Figment’s own $17.5 million investment fund, Figment Capital, launched in April ‘21 and has since invested in teams and networks with a focus on proof-of-stake consensus models, interoperability, and privacy. Investments include Osmosis, a decentralized exchange based on the Cosmos network, crypto staking protocol Obol, and Ethereum scaling and privacy engine zkSync, among others.
Figment is seeing $10 million in revenue per month, with a projected revenue of around $100 million in 2022. Figment makes money by taking a cut from all staking revenue that gets generated.
"The majority of our staking revenue comes from our institutional clients, with some earning from retail delegators as well since a lot of our validators are public. We do stake tokens that are on our balance sheet, but it is nowhere near the majority of our revenue," said Clayton Menzel, head of protocols and opportunities at Figment.
Costs are low with the main costs being staffing, equipment and insurance premiums. "It can be fairly profitable in terms of revenue in comparison to base cost. On some networks, you’ll see upwards of tens of millions of dollars a year if you’re doing well," Clayton Menzel said.
Profitable since 2019, Figment experienced 20x quarter-over-quarter growth as of Aug ‘21, reached over $7 billion in digital assets staked to its infrastructure across the 40+ networks that it supports, and has grown to supporting over 100+ institutional clients.
Figment joined the Pyth data oracle network as a core contributor and partner, working closely with Pyth network participants to bring even greater functionality and usability to the Pyth network.
Figment joined The Graph ecosystem as one of the three core protocol development teams, marking the next evolution of Web 3, which it believes will profoundly change the world.
Figment recently announced that it will support the Ethereum protocol after the merge into a “Proof of Stake” blockchain.
In July 2022, Figment announced that it will launch “Figment White Label”, a staking solution that maximizes branding, security, and control by offering private validators for the exclusive use of a single client.
In March 2022, Figment announced a partnership with Unslashed Finance, a leading DeFi insurance provider. The partnership will provide Figment customers with the best in class on-chain protection to protect institutional clients against common risks associated with staking, like downtime and slashing penalties.
In March 2022, Figment launched its DataHub Version 2. Version 2 is an update on Figment’s Web 3 Developer node infrastructure platform, making it easier for Web 3 developers to build and launch new apps.
In May 2022, Figment announced a partnership with Coinbase Cloud to support the building of the first ever institutional liquid staking protocol. The initial deployment of institutional liquid staking will run on Ethereum. Figment and Coinbase Cloud will be part of the initial validator set, staking the tokens of whitelisted participants, with other industry-leading operators joining soon.