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. You might also like: Taurus brings full Hedera stack to 40+ banks 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. JUST IN: Banks and regulators kick off a quantum-resistant crypto transfer pilot, testing post-quantum wallets and on-chain transfers with initial observers from Abu Dhabi, Bhutan and Malta. Potential implication: early move toward quantum-secure rails could shape future settl… pic.twitter.com/22UecOOv1p — Bpay News (@bpaynews) August 24, 2026 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.