Former Signature Bank executives launch N3XT, a blockchain bank built for 24/7 real-time dollar payments

Nearly three years after Signature Bank collapsed amid the 2023 banking turmoil, two of its former leaders are stepping back into the sector with an entirely new model. According to an exclusive report from Reuters, the former Signature executives are launching a neobank startup called N3XT, a blockchain-based bank built for instant, around-the-clock U.S. dollar transfers — a structure they say reflects lessons from Signature’s rise and its abrupt end.

The bank is led by Scott Shay, Signature’s founder and former chairman. Joining him is Jeffrey Wallis, who previously directed Signature’s digital asset and Web3 strategy and will serve as N3XT’s CEO. Reuters first reported the new venture, marking the team’s return to an industry that has spent the past few years reassessing trust, transparency, and risk.

“The bank, called N3XT, was founded by Scott Shay, the founder and former chairman of Signature Bank. Jeffrey Wallis, who was previously director of digital asset and Web3 strategy at Signature, will be N3XT’s CEO,” Reuters said in an exclusive report.

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N3XT is launching under a Wyoming special-purpose depository institution charter, allowing it to operate globally without offering loans. That structure is central to the founders’ plan to distance themselves from Signature’s approach. Every dollar deposited at N3XT will be backed by cash or short-term U.S. Treasuries, and the bank plans to publish its reserve holdings daily. Wallis said outside custodial partners will hold the reserves, though he declined to say which ones. Like other Wyoming-chartered SPDI banks, N3XT will not be insured by the FDIC.

Wallis said the fully liquid balance sheet is meant to remove the type of stress that crippled Signature. “We do not lend against our balance sheet, so clients always have confidence that their capital is available to them and never at risk and always stands ready to be able to be used according to their economic needs,” he said.

Signature’s failure still hangs over the sector. The New York-based institution once held $110 billion in assets and operated across several lines of business, including commercial real estate and digital asset banking. It also ran Signet, a round-the-clock payment network that became popular among crypto companies. In March 2023, Signature was seized by regulators after a wave of withdrawals shook the bank in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s implosion, marking the third-largest bank failure in U.S. history. An FDIC review later pointed to “poor management” and “rapid, unrestrained growth” that left the bank exposed.

Wallis said N3XT’s structure is built to avoid those pitfalls. “We are not making any lending decisions with the balance sheet,” he said. “We … are keeping our clients’ assets in full liquid form.” He described Signet as an “influential” experience that shaped how N3XT will operate, especially around the idea that clients need uninterrupted access to funds.

The bank plans to onboard digital asset firms first, a segment that continues to struggle with access to reliable banking services after Signature’s closure. Wallis said many of those clients have already begun the onboarding process and are looking for a stable payments platform that doesn’t depend on the traditional loan-driven model.

N3XT enters a market still marked by the scars of 2023 but eager for alternatives that can move money instantly without exposing depositors to balance-sheet risk. How much demand it captures will depend on whether the founders can convince an industry burned by Signature that this new structure — transparent reserves, no lending, and around-the-clock access — can hold up where the previous model didn’t.