A group of former executives of Signature Bank, the crypto-friendly bank that closed in March 2023, announced on Thursday the launch of a new blockchain-powered, full-reserve bank that aims to offer programmable payments in US dollars.
Dubbed N3XT, the bank operates under a Wyoming Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) charter, settles payments instantly using a private blockchain system and allows businesses to automate transactions via smart contracts.
Unlike traditional banks, N3XT does not lend deposits. Instead, it is a so-called “narrow bank” where each dollar is backed one-to-one by cash or short-term US Treasuries and is published daily.
At the helm is CEO and President Jeffrey Wallis, who was the former Director of Digital Asset Strategy at Signature Bank. Scott Shay, Signature’s co-founder and the creator of its crypto payment platform Signet, also serves as N3XT’s founder.
The firm is backed by venture capital firms including Paradigm, HACK VC and Winklevoss Capital – the VC firm of crypto exchange Gemini founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss – among others. The firm has raised $72 million in three funding rounds, the most recent in October, according to Crunchbase data.
The move comes more than two years after state regulators shut down Signature Bank in March 2023, just days after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. at the time cited Signature’s over-reliance on uninsured deposits and weak risk controls as key reasons behind the closure. Signature Bank’s key offering was Signet, a real-time payment platform that was popular with crypto businesses.
N3XT said it aims to offer a similar service that Signet once provided. Its architecture is designed to be programmable and compliant, allowing businesses to automate financial operations such as vendor payments or collateral without having to wait for traditional banking hours.
“We are applying crypto-innovations to banking to deliver instant, programmable payments to institutional clients,” Jeffrey Wallis said in a statement. “Our platform gives businesses the control and reliability they need in a 24/7 global economy.”
The firm already has clients from industries such as crypto, shipping and logistics, foreign exchange with a “robust pipeline” of incoming clients, the bank said.
