Former Coinbase COO Becomes President of Blockchain Lending Firm Figure

Blockchain-based lending firm Figure has hired the former President and Chief Operating Officer of Coinbase, Asiff Hirji, as its new President, the firm said in a press release on 29 January.

According to the announcement, the longtime financial executive will oversee the company’s growth, and help Figure with the creation of a new merchant bank. The company further stated that Hirji “is already in place at the company’s headquarters”. The CEO and Co-Founder of Figure, Mike Cagney, who is also known for being the co-founder and former CEO of digital consumer finance company SoFi, said in a statement:

“Asiff has already been a critical advisor to me on how we manage the growth of Figure in order to drive the transformation of financial services across categories and around the world. His deep experience in the financial services industry and his long history of helping companies drive and manage growth are both going to be important to the growth of Figure and the creation of our new merchant bank.”

Before working at Coinbase, Hirji served as the president and COO of TD Ameritrade, and was an operating partner at Andreesen Horowitz before that. He has further held senior leadership roles with TPG Capital, Saxo Bank, HP, and Bain Capital. Hirji departed from Coinbase in May 2019, following the company’s chief technology officer Balaji Srinivasan, who left at the beginning of the month.

Towards the end of 2019, Figure was able to raise $103 million in a Series C funding round, which raised the company’s valuation to more than $1.2 billion. The company provides home equity line of credit (HELOC), as well as Mortgage Refinancing and Student Loan Refinancing, through its proprietary blockchain platform, Provenance, which processes all of its loans.

Towards the end of 2019, Figure was able to raise $103 million in a Series C funding round, which raised the company’s valuation to more than $1.2 billion. The company provides home equity line of credit (HELOC), as well as Mortgage Refinancing and Student Loan Refinancing, through its proprietary blockchain platform, Provenance, which processes all of its loans.