Ex-Signature Bank chair launches blockchain-powered instant overseas payments service

Scott Shay watched Signature Bank collapse in March 2023 during the regional banking crisis. Now the former chairman is back with a very different kind of bank, one built on blockchain rails and designed to move dollars across borders instantly. N3XT, the Wyoming-chartered Special Purpose Depository Institution that Shay co-founded and publicly launched in December 2025, received regulatory approval on August 17, 2026 to facilitate international transactions via its digital token. The approval transforms what was a domestic instant-payments platform into a potential competitor to SWIFT, the messaging network that underpins most cross-border bank transfers today. A full-reserve bank on a private blockchain It operates as a full-reserve institution, meaning every dollar deposited is backed 1:1 by liquid assets, specifically cash and short-term US Treasuries. No fractional lending. No duration risk. No Silicon Valley Bank-style mismatch where long-dated bonds crater the balance sheet when rates spike. The bank publishes daily disclosures of its reserve holdings. For context, most US banks report their balance sheets quarterly. Under the hood, N3XT runs on a private blockchain that sup...