Three former Signature Bank executives, including its founder Scott Shay, have launched a new tech-forward bank in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Clients of N3XT, which opened its proverbial doors Thursday, will be able to make instant business-to-business payments 24/7 via blockchain technology. It will serve sectors including cryptocurrency, shipping and logistics and foreign exchange.
The bank operates under a Wyoming special-purpose depository institution charter, a novel charter created by legislation in 2019 and under the purview of the state’s banking authority. N3XT is a full-reserve bank, meaning each dollar in deposits is backed one-to-one by cash or short-term treasuries, and does not lend.
“Money should move as seamlessly as information,” CEO and President Jeffrey Wallis, who previously served as director of digital asset and Web3 strategy at Signature, said in a prepared statement. “We're applying crypto innovations to banking to deliver instant, programmable payments for 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 chief information officer. He served as vice president of technology and digital asset solutions at Signature.
N3XT is Shay’s fourth foray into founding a bank. He launched 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 roughly $110 billion in assets, collapsed during 2023’s regional bank crisis, and is the fourth-largest bank failure to date in U.S. history.
Aurélien Bonnel, N3XT’s chief technology officer, is a veteran of Deutsche Bank; and Tiffiney Peterson, its CFO, is an alumna of Merrick Bank. Chief Compliance Officer Amanda Ortego joined N3XT from the Wyoming Division of Banking, where she was deputy banking commissioner and chief bank examiner.
“The financial system is being re-wired to be internet native, 24/7/365 and global,” Alana Palmedo, managing partner of Paradigm, which invested in N3XT, said in a prepared statement. “N3XT’s blockchain-powered bank embodies that shift and we’re proud to back them as they establish a new standard for how dollars move globally.”
Other investors include Pharsalus, HACK VC, Reciprocal Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Future Perfect Ventures, Potenza Capital and Jesselson Capital.
