Banks and regulators launch quantum safe crypto pilot

Banks and financial regulators from Europe, the Middle East and Asia joined a cross regional pilot testing post quantum security for digital asset wallets and blockchain transfers on Aug. 24.
Summary

• Two banks will test quantum resistant wallets and transfers on a specialized NEAR testnet environment.
• Regulators from Abu Dhabi, Bhutan and Malta will initially observe the pilot's first phase activities.
• The protocol combines multiparty computation with NIST standardized ML-DSA-65 signatures for secure digital asset transfers.
• Organizers plan a white paper covering test results before eventually releasing the underlying protocol publicly.
• No cryptographically relevant quantum computer currently exists that can break deployed blockchain signatures at scale.

The Responsible Fintech Institute convened the project with digital asset custody infrastructure provider Safeheron as its technology partner, according to the official announcement.

Bison Bank and DK Bank will test wallet creation and onchain transfers in a shared application environment. Abu Dhabi Global Market, Bhutan's Gelephu Financial Services Office and the Malta Financial Services Authority will initially participate as observers.

The pilot does not mean that quantum computers can presently compromise the participating banks or the NEAR network. It is a preparedness exercise intended to test how financial institutions could adopt new signature standards before sufficiently powerful quantum computers become available.

Banks will test ML-DSA-65 signatures on NEAR

Safeheron developed a multiparty computation protocol supporting ML-DSA-65, one of the parameter sets contained in the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology's FIPS 204 standard.

NIST finalized the standard in August 2024. The agency says ML-DSA is believed to remain secure against an adversary possessing a large scale quantum computer. However, the standard's security depends on correct implementation and continued cryptographic review.

Multiparty computation allows several parties or devices to participate in signing a transaction without reconstructing a complete private key in one location. The pilot combines that custody model with post quantum signatures intended to resist future attacks.

Testing will cover wallet generation and transfers on a quantum resistant NEAR testnet. The organizers have not identified the assets involved, transaction volumes, testing schedule or performance measures.

The exercise does not involve the public NEAR mainnet or customer funds. Results from a controlled testnet also cannot by themselves establish that the system is ready for live institutional use.

Regulators will examine governance after observing tests

Regulators will observe the technical work during the first phase rather than execute transfers themselves. Their participation levels will vary depending on each institution's mandate and jurisdiction.

A later governance workstream will examine operational resilience, oversight and cross border interoperability. The initiative could help participants assess how post quantum wallet infrastructure fits existing custody, cybersecurity and risk management requirements.

"No single bank, vendor, or regulator solves this alone," Responsible Fintech Institute Chairman Chia Hock Lai said. He described the project as an effort to produce a shared security and compliance reference.

Safeheron said it eventually intends to release the protocol as open source software, allowing independent researchers to examine the implementation. The organizers also plan to publish a white paper covering the research, protocol design and test findings.

Neither the white paper nor the software release has a confirmed publication date. Until both become available, outside researchers cannot independently assess the protocol's implementation, performance or security assumptions.

Financial authorities are preparing for quantum migration

The Bank for International Settlements warned in a July 2025 roadmap that migration to post quantum systems cannot be treated as a simple algorithm replacement.

Banks must identify where existing cryptography is used, assess third party dependencies and prepare systems that can switch between cryptographic methods. The BIS recommended coordinated planning, layered defenses, hybrid systems and phased migration.

Hong Kong is already measuring progress. As previously reported, its banking sector scored 2.3 out of 10 for quantum preparedness, while 32% of surveyed banks had not begun preparing. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority wants the sector fully prepared by 2030.

Blockchain developers are also testing network level changes. In related coverage, the Algorand Foundation set a 2027 target for broad quantum resilience covering accounts, wallets, validator tools and consensus.

Bitcoin developers have proposed new transaction formats designed to protect future funds from quantum attacks. However, moving existing holdings into quantum resistant outputs would require broad coordination across users, wallets, exchanges and custodians.

The bank pilot's next milestones are the completion of wallet and transfer testing, the governance review, publication of the white paper and release of the underlying code. Those materials will show whether the system can offer practical performance alongside its intended security properties.

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