Ex-Signature Chair Warns Big Banks Could Seize Share With Blockchain Payments

Signature Bank helped pioneer bank-run blockchain payments with Signet, a network that let approved commercial and crypto clients move U.S. dollars around the clock. Regulators closed the New York lender in March 2023, when it had roughly $110 billion in assets. Founder and former chairman Scott Shay says the lesson now extends beyond crypto: as digital assets and tokenized money enter mainstream finance, always-on settlement infrastructure is becoming a competitive necessity for banks rather than a niche service.

Shay warned as his new venture, N3XT, expands globally that large banks could use their capital, technology budgets and customer reach to take business from smaller lenders that fail to modernize. N3XT launched on Dec. 4, 2025 under a Wyoming special-purpose charter, offering instant U.S. dollar payments 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The full-reserve bank backs deposits one-for-one with cash or short-term Treasuries and does not lend; Shay gave no quantified estimate for potential market-share losses or fresh investment.