A group of former Signature Bank executives has launched a new blockchain-powered institution called N3XT, describing it as a full-reserve bank designed for round-the-clock, instant business payments. The move comes nearly two years after Signature Bank’s dramatic shutdown in March 2023, a collapse that shook confidence across the crypto-friendly banking sector. With N3XT, its founders say they want to rebuild the parts of Signature’s infrastructure that worked, while applying a more conservative and transparent approach to risk.
N3XT is being led by Jeffrey Wallis, who previously oversaw digital-asset and Web3 initiatives at Signature, while Signature co-founder Scott Shay is among the venture’s architects. The new bank operates under a Wyoming Special-Purpose Depository Institution charter, which allows it to hold customer deposits without functioning like a traditional fractional-reserve bank. Under this model, N3XT cannot lend customer deposits and must keep them fully backed by cash or short-term U.S. Treasuries. The bank says it will publish reserve data every day to reinforce its commitment to transparency.
At the core of N3XT is a private, permissioned blockchain that processes transactions instantly and remains active at all hours. While the technology is inspired by crypto-native payment systems, it is built for regulated institutional clients rather than retail users. Payments can be programmed through smart contracts, giving businesses the ability to automate complex financial flows without waiting for traditional clearing processes. Wallis said the goal is to bring the speed and reliability of crypto settlement to banks—something he believes global businesses increasingly expect in a 24/7 economy.
This approach aims to address some of the limitations of the systems that businesses rely on today, where domestic transfers can take hours and cross-border transactions may take several days. The team behind N3XT believes that the combination of instant settlement and a full-reserve model could offer a safer, more predictable alternative to conventional commercial banks. Unlike Signature, N3XT will not offer loans or other credit-based services, a decision driven by the lessons of Signature’s downfall and the desire to eliminate balance-sheet risks.
Signature Bank’s demise remains one of the largest banking failures in recent U.S. history. It followed a sudden loss of confidence and rapid withdrawal of deposits amid broader fears about the financial health of institutions exposed to crypto markets. Supporters of Signature have argued that the bank was targeted unfairly, despite maintaining a strong operational infrastructure, such as its real-time payments network, Signet. Venture investor Alexander Pack noted that most founders would have stepped aside after such an episode, but Signature’s leaders instead returned to build N3XT, aiming to revive the 24/7 payments capabilities that Signet once offered—only this time within a narrower, blockchain-native framework.
N3XT plans to focus on clients in sectors that depend heavily on fast settlement, including crypto exchanges, foreign exchange firms, shipping companies, and global logistics operators. The project has already attracted support from major investors such as Paradigm, Winklevoss Capital, and HACK VC. Whether the full-reserve, blockchain-driven model will achieve broad adoption remains uncertain, but N3XT signals a renewed push to merge the speed of digital-asset infrastructure with the oversight of regulated banking.
