The Responsible Fintech Institute (RFI) and Safeheron have launched a pilot initiative to evaluate post-quantum cryptography for digital asset transactions, with participation from selected financial institutions and regulatory stakeholders across multiple jurisdictions.
Scope of the pilot
The pilot centres on a post-quantum cryptography (PQC) research programme built around a multi-party computation (MPC) protocol supporting ML-DSA-65, the digital signature standard defined under NIST's FIPS 204. Participant testing will cover wallet generation and on-chain transfer activity on the quantum-resistant NEAR testnet. According to the organisers, the initiative brings together banks and regulators from multiple jurisdictions to examine cross-border interoperability, operational resilience, and governance considerations alongside the technical evaluation.
Company commentary
A company official at RFI said no single bank, technology provider, or regulator can address the transition to post-quantum security independently, describing the pilot as an effort to bring policymakers and financial institutions together to test the same architecture and share research transparently across participants.
A company official at Safeheron said developments in AI are accelerating the pace of technological change and may bring quantum-related risks closer to materialising, describing the integration of NIST's post-quantum signature standard with MPC technology as part of building infrastructure intended to support future financial networks. The official said Safeheron intends to open-source its PQC code, arguing that cryptography protecting institutional assets should be open to independent scrutiny.
Representatives from participating institutions, including Bison Bank, the Gelephu Financial Services Office, and the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), described the initiative as supporting industry collaboration and knowledge-sharing on post-quantum security, with the MFSA noting that participation provides an opportunity to contribute a supervisory perspective while developing understanding of the operational and governance considerations associated with a transition to quantum-safe financial services.
Regulatory and industry context
According to a 2025 paper on quantum readiness published by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), transitioning the financial system's cryptographic infrastructure requires coordinated planning, cryptographic agility, and phased migration, rather than a straightforward algorithm replacement.
Regulatory attention on AI- and quantum-related cyber risk has continued to increase. In July 2026, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) announced the AI-Driven Cyber and Technology Risk Taskforce (ACT), an industry-wide initiative focused on strengthening cyber and technology resilience against risks associated with frontier AI models. Separately, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has incorporated quantum readiness into its Fintech 2030 strategy, introducing a Quantum Preparedness Index and accompanying whitepaper intended to benchmark banks' progress toward post-quantum cryptography, with an ambition for the sector to achieve full quantum-ready status by 2030.
Pilot structure and next steps
Within the pilot, participating institutions will test a shared application environment supporting quantum-resistant MPC signing under consistent conditions. Regulators will participate in an observer capacity during the initial phase, before contributing to a governance-focused workstream in a subsequent stage. The initiative also plans to publish a whitepaper covering the research, protocol design, and testing outcomes, with the underlying protocol technology intended to eventually be open-sourced to support independent security auditing and broader industry standards.
