Three former executives of Signature Bank, including its founder Scott Shay, have launched a new state-of-the-art bank in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Customers of N3XT, which opened on Thursday, will be able to make instant business-to-business payments 24/7 via blockchain technology. It will serve industries such as cryptocurrency, shipping, logistics and foreign exchange.
The bank operates under a Wyoming special purpose depository institution charter, a charter of the novel created by law in 2019 and placed under the supervision of the state banking authority. N3XT is a full reserve bank, meaning every dollar of deposit is backed one-for-one by cash or short-term Treasury bills, and does not lend.
“Money should flow as easily as information,” CEO and President Jeffrey Wallis, who previously served as director of digital assets and Web3 strategy at Signature, said in a prepared statement. “We apply crypto innovations to the banking industry to provide instant, programmable payments to institutional clients. Our platform gives businesses the control and reliability they need in a 24/7 global economy.”
A third former Signature executive, Kyle O’Donnell, is N3XT’s news director. He served as Vice President of Technology and Digital Asset Solutions at Signature.
N3XT is Shay’s fourth foray into building a bank. He started Houston-based Bank United of Texas in 1988 and sold it to Washington Mutual in 2001. He also founded Draper, Utah-based Merrick Bank in 1997. Signature, which he founded in 2001 and grew to about $110 billion in assets, collapsed during the 2023 regional banking crisisand constitutes to date the fourth largest bank failure in United States history.
Aurélien Bonnel, CTO of N3XT, is a Deutsche Bank veteran; and Tiffiney Peterson, its chief financial officer, is a Merrick Bank alumna. Compliance Manager Amanda Ortego joined N3XT from the Wyoming Banking Division, where she served as Deputy Banking Commissioner and Chief Bank Examiner.
“The financial system is being rewired to be Internet native, 24/7/365 and on a global scale,” Alana Palmedo, managing partner of Paradigm, which invested in N3XT, said in a prepared statement. “N3XT’s blockchain-based bank embodies this change and we are proud to support it as it sets a new standard for how dollars flow globally.”
Other investors include Pharsalus, HACK VC, Reciprocal Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Future Perfect Ventures, Potenza Capital and Jesselson Capital.
