Former Signature Bank Executives Unveil N3XT, a New Blockchain-Powered

Former leaders of the now-defunct Signature Bank have a new bank called . This blockchain-based bank is set up to allow people to make payments in U.S. dollars at any time of day. The action means that they are officially back in the banking sector over three years later than regulators shut down Signature Bank in March 2023.

Scott Shay, who co-founded Signature Bank and served as its chairman, and Jeffrey Wallis, who previously served as the director of digital-asset and Web3 strategy at Signature, are also executives at N3XT. Wallis will be in charge of N3XT as its CEO.

The corporation said the new institution will be a Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) serving worldwide businesses that require 24-hour settlement. These include clients in BTC, foreign platform, logistics, and other fields where operations are ongoing.

A New Model for Full-Reserve Banking

N3XT will as a narrow bank, meaning it won’t lend customer deposits. Instead, every deposit will be guaranteed by cash or short-term U.S. Treasuries, which are readily accessible. N3XT wants to publish daily reports on its reserve holdings to keep everything completely transparent. This is diverse from regular banks, which can lend out deposits and put consumers at risk of losing their money.

Wallis stressed that this methodology is intended to restore trust and eliminate credit risk. He said, “We don’t lend against our balance sheet, so clients can always be sure that their capital is available to them, isn’t at risk, and is always ready to be used when they need it.” He also said the model is set up so it won’t run into the identical difficultys that led to Signature Bank’s failure.

N3XT will also employ a private, permissioned to make programmable, real-time payments. This is similar to how Signature’s old Signet platform worked. Executives claim this technology will let businesses send U.S. dollars immediately, no matter what time of day it is or where they are.

Supporters and the Industry’s Response

Several investors who are interested in digital assets and are behind the bank. Its founders indicate that N3XT is already signing up clients across several fields, especially those that need robust, ongoing settlement infrastructure.

The launch has gotten excellent reviews from industry experts. Alana Palmedo, managing partner at Paradigm, says N3XT’s strategy is part of a broader shift in . She remarked, “The financial system is being changed so that it can work on the internet all the time, every day of the year, and around the world.” 

The blockchain-powered bank N3XT is a excellent example of this change. Others have said that the bank’s full-reserve concept may enable it to avoid the liquidity difficultys that have affected both traditional and crypto-focused banks.

A Comparison to Signature Bank’s Past

N3XT’s announcement comes later than Signature Bank’s sudden failure in 2023, when regulators took control of the bank due to its heavy exposure to unstable businesses and poor risk management. At its peak, Signature had almost 110 billion dollars in assets.

The people in charge of N3XT have made it clear that the new bank is very diverse in terms of design and purpose.

Wallis called N3XT “new and unique and very diverse,” saying that it puts asset securety, real-time liquidity, and clear reserve management first. The institution’s decision not to lend, a traditionally profitable function, is intended to lower systemic risk and boost client trust.

N3XT aims to be the first choice for organizations viewking quick, reliable, and open settlement answers when it launches. However, its success will rely on whether customers are ready to use a banking model that doesn’t offer typical deposit insurance.